Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine is urging schools to require that all schoolchildren wear a mask as the delta variant of the coronavirus drives up cases and hospitalization.
DeWine said the best way to protect students is send children under the age of 12 to school with a mask and to ensure students 12-17 receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
"To all those who are making decisions right now about our schools, if you are not requiring masks, please think about this again. At the very least, consider requiring masks for the next few weeks when we know the spread level will be very high," DeWine said.
The Republican governor's Tuesday plea comes as the state's seven-day rolling average of daily new cases has risen over the past two weeks from 1,197.43 new cases per day on Aug. 1 to 2,567.71 new cases per day on Aug. 15.
Last month, Columbus Public Schools said they would require face masks for both vaccinated and unvaccinated students not just on buses, but in schools too at all grade levels.
Other Central Ohio schools are requiring masks for younger students who are not eligible to receive a vaccine while other districts are recommending masks but not making them mandatory.
