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DeWine Says Goal To Remove Ohio Mask Mandate Is Attainable

Marian Jacques

The number of cases of COVID-19 in Ohio has been rising in recent weeks. And it’s going further away from the goal that was set in order for the statewide mask mandate to be lifted. 

There are now 200 cases of COVID per 100,000 people over the last two weeks. That’s four times the level set by Gov. Mike DeWine last month when he said he wouldn’t lift the statewide mask mandate until there were 50 cases per 100,000 residents over a two-week period. But DeWine said that number is still attainable as the number of vaccinated Ohioans continues to rise. 

“I truly believe at some point that weight of the number of people who have been vaccinated will overcome this raging virus," DeWine says.

4.2 million Ohioans, or more than 36% of the state’s total population, have started the vaccine process at this point. Nearly a quarter of all Ohioans have completed it.

Copyright 2021 The Statehouse News Bureau

Jo Ingles is a professional journalist who covers politics and Ohio government for the Ohio Public Radio and Television for the Ohio Public Radio and Television Statehouse News Bureau. She reports on issues of importance to Ohioans including education, legislation, politics, and life and death issues such as capital punishment.