In a belated act of leadership, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced today that masks will be mandatory statewide as of 6 p.m. tomorrow (July 23) to help stem the spread of the coronavirus as infections continue apace.
This order only requires those who are 10 years old or older to wear a mask. In addition, the following do not need to wear a mask: pic.twitter.com/xv9CX8itYi
— Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) July 22, 2020
He'd previously ordered masks to be worn only in counties that rose to Level 3 on the state's public health advisory system.
The order comes just a week after DeWine used a statewide address to politely plead with the masses of the Buckeye State to wear masks.
But after appealing to Ohioans' better sense — and as the economic task force and Republican leaders clamored for universal masks to help keep Ohio reopened — DeWine said in the interest of preventing counties from seeing more infections and continuing to drive down infections in Level 3 counties, the time had come time to make the universal mandate.
"Masks work, the evidence is in," DeWine said, referencing the CDC's position that if everyone wore masks for the next six weeks, we could drive the virus into the ground.
"More people are wearing masks," DeWine said. "The rate of increase has slowed, though we're not at a plateau. We're cautiously optimistic that we're slowing the curve. It looks like wearing a mask is starting to have an effect in red counties. It's making a difference."
More counties will be going red on Thursday, DeWine said, and the order was made to prevent more orange and yellow counties from going red in the future.
"We know nationwide and from what medical science tells us, we know that wearing a mask in those orange and yellow counties will make a difference," he said.
The goobers of Ohio, the denizens of Nino Vitale, and the selfish, ignorant masses who descend upon Facebook will be angry.
But...
"Wearing a mask while doing social distancing makes a huge, huge difference," the governor said. "We have to get this virus under control. It makes a difference in what our fall looks like. We want our kids to go back to school and to see sports. To do that, it's important that all Ohioans wear a mask."
