Gov­er­nor DeWine Issues Statewide Mask Order, Trav­el Warning

Ohio Gov­er­nor Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov­er­nor Jon Husted today pro­vid­ed the fol­low­ing updates on Ohio’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

STATEWIDE MASK ORDER

Gov­er­nor DeWine announced that begin­ning on Thurs­day, July 23, at 6:00 p.m., a statewide mask man­date will go into effect for cit­i­zens liv­ing in all 88 Ohio counties. 

“Our pre­lim­i­nary data indi­cate that the rate of increase in new cas­es has slowed in the high-risk coun­ties where masks are already man­dat­ed, so we are cau­tious­ly opti­mistic that things are head­ing in the right direc­tion,” said Gov­er­nor DeWine. “We believe that requir­ing masks statewide will make a sig­nif­i­cant dif­fer­ence and will be key to mak­ing sure oth­er coun­ties do not progress to a high­er lev­el of increased spread.”

All indi­vid­u­als in Ohio must wear facial cov­er­ings in pub­lic at all times when:

• At an indoor loca­tion that is not a residence
• Out­doors, but unable to main­tain six-foot social dis­tance from peo­ple who are not house­hold members
• Wait­ing for, rid­ing, dri­ving, or oper­at­ing pub­lic trans­porta­tion, such as a taxi, a car ser­vice, or a pri­vate car used for ride-sharing.

The order only requires those 10 years old or old­er to wear a mask. Addi­tion­al exclu­sions include: 

• Those with a med­ical con­di­tion or a dis­abil­i­ty or those com­mu­ni­cat­ing with some­one with a disability;
• Those who are active­ly exer­cis­ing or play­ing sports;
• Those who are offi­ciants at reli­gious services;
• Those who are active­ly involved in pub­lic safe­ty; or
• Those who are active­ly eat­ing or drinking.

Schools should fol­low the guid­ance pre­vi­ous­ly issued per­tain­ing to masks.

STATEWIDE TRAVEL WARNING

Gov­er­nor DeWine announced today a trav­el advi­so­ry for all indi­vid­u­als com­ing into Ohio from states report­ing pos­i­tive COVID-19 test­ing rates of 15 per­cent or higher. 

Those trav­el­ing from one of the fol­low­ing states should self-quar­an­tine for 14 days at home or in a hotel.

• Alaba­ma
• Ari­zona
• Flori­da
• Geor­gia
• Ida­ho
• Mis­sis­sip­pi
• Neva­da
• South Car­oli­na
• Texas

The self-quar­an­tine rec­om­men­da­tion applies to those who live in Ohio and to peo­ple who are trav­el­ing into Ohio from any of these states.

“I know this will be hard and is a sac­ri­fice, espe­cial­ly as sum­mer vaca­tions are in full force, but when we have a high­er like­li­hood of being exposed, we should take pre­cau­tions to lim­it the expo­sure of oth­ers,” said Gov­er­nor DeWine. 

Ohio’s pos­i­tiv­i­ty rate, which is an indi­ca­tor of the per­cent­age of peo­ple who have test­ed pos­i­tive for COVID-19, has been around 6.2 percent. 

Vis­it coro​n​avirus​.ohio​.gov for tips on how to effec­tive­ly quarantine.

INFORMAL GATHERINGS

Gov­er­nor DeWine today urged cit­i­zens to use extreme cau­tion when con­sid­er­ing attend­ing or host­ing an infor­mal gathering. 

“We are see­ing seri­ous expo­sures to the virus that are aris­ing from every­day events like church ser­vices, small house par­ties, neigh­bor­hood get-togeth­ers, children’s sleep­overs, wed­dings, and even bridal show­ers,” said Gov­er­nor DeWine. “This virus is real, and we can­not let our guards down.”

COUNTY FAIRS

Fol­low­ing a 19-case out­break linked to a coun­ty fair in Ohio, Gov­er­nor DeWine today spoke with fair man­agers from across Ohio to stress the impor­tance of fol­low­ing safe­ty guid­ance dur­ing coun­ty fair events. 

“We’ve seen pho­tos of packed grand­stands and lit­tle social dis­tanc­ing,” said Gov­er­nor DeWine. “We want fairs to con­tin­ue, but I expressed in the phone call today that fairs must fol­low the rules.”

Guid­ance for fairs is avail­able at coro​n​avirus​.ohio​.gov. 

For more infor­ma­tion on Ohio’s response to COVID-19, vis­it coro​n​avirus​.ohio​.gov or call 1 – 833-4-ASK-ODH.