Gov. Mike DeWine said he was looking to send a strong message about masks to some of his fellow Republican lawmakers in his speech on Wednesday. And he's also hinting that schools should prepare to go back to online learning and not to the classroom.
DeWine talked about COVID-19 in a wide-ranging hour-long interview on on WCPN/ideastream this morning.
DeWine said on the state鈥檚 alert map, which means they鈥檙e required to wear masks.
he said that the pandemic is not a "hoax". He admitted that he was aiming at a few vocal Republican representatives who have complained and defied those mandates on social media.
鈥淲ell, I was talking to a couple of my friends in the legislature. Yeah, I was, a couple of them. I don鈥檛 think very many members of the legislature think it鈥檚 a hoax," DeWine said.
DeWine says he鈥檚 concerned that the positivity rate of tests is going up dramatically.
Case numbers are above where they were , and many school districts haven鈥檛 even unveiled their final plans to open next month. With that, and a ban on gatherings of more than 10 people still in place, DeWine was asked why the state doesn鈥檛 just order schools to stay closed.
鈥淲e may end up there. What we鈥檝e told the schools all summer to do is to prepare for different alternatives," DeWine said. "We've known that even if school opens back up, there may be another surge that comes on in a month or two or three and that school's going to have to go remote."
DeWine notes that the has said kids should be in school if they can open safely, and said he鈥檚 concerned about . But he admitted he鈥檚 worried about .
While schools are under local control, the state , including that school employees must wear masks, and has strongly recommended students over third grade wear them too.
DeWine was also asked about nursing homes, from which 75% of all of Ohioans confirmed deaths have come.
New Ohio nursing home deaths numbers posted at : As of July 15, 1,777 deaths recorded since April 15, 45 more than last week's report. With 369 deaths before April 15, that's a total of 2,146 - or 75% of the state's 2,849 confirmed COVID-19 deaths.鈥� Karen Kasler (@karenkasler)
Testing in nursing homes has been happening with the help of the Ohio National Guard, but federal funds for their pandemic-related missions . Long term care facilities by the end of this month.
DeWine said he'll soon be announcing a protocol for continual testing of staff in nursing homes.
鈥淲e鈥檙e working with several companies to make sure that that availability is there. So that will be a constant testing of staffs at nursing homes, and we think that is the best way to try to control this," DeWine said. "It comes into the nursing homes through the staff."
As many as . Advocates have filed lawsuits and pushed for more releases of inmates to lower overcrowding and stop the spread of the virus.
DeWine said inmates are being released every day, as part of a standing order that inmates within 90 days of the end of the sentences are considered for release unless they鈥檙e a violent criminal or a sex offender.
鈥淲e continue to do that. But I鈥檓 not going to just open the gates. I think that that is an irresponsible thing to do," DeWine said. "We鈥檝e been aggressive with testing. We鈥檝e been aggressive with doing everything that we can in our prisons. I have pardoned a number of people. We鈥檙e doing the things that we can do in this regard and it is something that we focus on every single day.鈥�
Mass testing in three Ohio prisons . At one point the Marion Correctional Institution .
Prison workers have said conditions inside the state's 28 prison facilities because of the pandemic, that they don't have enough personal protective equipment, and that employees are working long hours without relief because of schedules disrupted by quarantines.
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