COLUMBUS – A the delta variant of the coronavirus sweeps across the state, Gov. Mike DeWine is urging that schoolchildren continue wearing masks in school at least for the beginning of the academic year to avoid more drastic measures such as quarantines or a return to online learning.
DeWine said Tuesday that wearing masks and getting students over 12 years of age vaccinated are the best ways to protect students and achieve the state’s goal of allowing schools to stay open.
“That goal is now clearly at risk. Today in Ohio, we are facing a perfect storm,” he said at a news conference Tuesday.
As schools across the state prepare to reopen, every county in Ohio is now considered a “high incidence” county for spread of COVID-19 by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The state reported that the incidence of COVID-19 in Ohio has risen from 17 cases per 100,000 residents on July 7 to 236 cases per 100,000 last week.
School mask mandates vary widely across Ohio. Columbus is requiring them. So are Cincinnati and Cleveland schools, at least for the beginning of the year.
DeWine said the state is “well past the time” when mask mandates should be issued but he urged parents and school officials to require children wear them to school.
“These decisions today rest with each parent, it rests with the parents and it rests with the school officials,” he said.
The union representing the 4,000 teachers in the Columbus City Schools is calling for enhanced safety measures in addition to the mask requirements for students, staff and visitors, including requiring proof of full COVID-19 vaccination, or weekly testing, for all employees and improved ventilation protocols such as providing portable high-efficiency particulate air – HEPA – fan and filtration systems as recommended by the CDC.
“These recommended common-sense safety measures give our students and members the best chance of remaining in classrooms this school year doing what we do best” Columbus Education Association president John Coneglio said.