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WKYC.com
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine was asked if he would consider statewide action on schools amid COVID-19 spike: Here's what he said
The question comes as Ohio continues to see higher numbers of coronavirus cases throughout the state.
Ryan Haidet
October 21, 2020
Editor’s
note: On November 11, Gov. DeWine said the schools were doing a
tremendous job with their on-campus precautions, noting “children need
to be in school.” His message was to the community. Community spread
could impact the ability of school districts to stay open. This was his
message in October…
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Earlier this week, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine warned that
more schools could have to go "totally remote" as COVID-19 cases
continue surging throughout the state.
Then on Tuesday during his afternoon press conference, Gov. DeWine was
asked if he was considering any statewide action on schools amid the
coronavirus spike. Here was his response:
"Not at the moment. ... We are a local government state. Throughout our
history we have relied on our local school boards, our local families
to make decisions about their schools. We're going through a very, very
tough period of time, and we still rely on those families to make
decisions. We give them a lot of guidance. We put out a mask order,
which was not very popular with some people. With the exception of one
or two schools, teachers, principals have done a great job. Students
have done a great job in wearing masks and doing everything they can to
be safe."
He said that while there have been some COVID-19 cases associated with schools, DeWine added that the spread hasn't been huge.
"Any time you put people together there’s a risk, but they’re doing it
in the safest way as they can in person," he said. "Still, there is
always some risk. There’s a particular risk when the county positivity
rate is high and the number of cases are high."
He said the state's color-coded alert system was built to also assist districts and parents with their best options.
"But we also know that in-person for most kids is probably the best,
and is the best. That’s kind of where we would hope to get, but we
can’t get there when we’ve got these high numbers. We’ve got to deal
with the high numbers, and we can deal with them. But if we don’t it’s
abundantly clear from what we’re seeing is more schools are going
online. More schools are extending online. Some schools that were in
person before are now going online. That is a natural consequence of
the rise in cases in the community. It’s incumbent upon the adults, it
seems to me, to drive those numbers down. We have the power to do it.”
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