CLEVELAND, Ohio – Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, who gained national renown for his leadership and emphatic steps in battling the coronavirus in the early days of the pandemic, effectively turned that battle over to local governments in the state Thursday.
He created a county-by-county risk ranking tool so local leaders can see where they stand and how much danger they face and encouraged them to take the actions they deem necessary. He applauded mayors who are now making bold decisions like instituting mask requirements to protect their residents.
But on a day when DeWine had lots to say, he offered not a single concrete action to stop the virus. He wants the local leaders to do that, county by county, school district by school district.
Ultimately, time will tell whether what DeWine did is bold leadership with a new strategy or a passing of the buck in the face of withering criticism of his tactics so far.
Coronavirus infections are surging around the country, with record numbers of positive cases reported as the holiday weekend begins, prompting governors in other states to take measures such as closing bars or mandating masks. But DeWine has relegated himself to the role of providing data to local officials and letting them determine the course of the response for now.
“It does not mean that I am not engaged and it does not mean that I will not in the future make decisions if I think those decisions are needed to protect the people of the state of Ohio,” DeWine said.
It’s a drastic change from the DeWine of only a couple of months ago, and a change without much explanation.
DeWine, a Republican, took the lead nationally on just about everything coronavirus related at the outset of the pandemic. He shut down mass gatherings statewide, canceled school and closed bars and restaurants before others took action. Other governors followed suit, even as the White House continued to downplay the severity of the virus.
DeWine’s quick response is part of the reason Ohio had such low infection, hospitalization and mortality figures compared to other states. The virus seemed mostly controlled heading into May, allowing the state to reopen relatively quickly.
But DeWine appears gone for now, apparently comfortable with a wait-and-see response to a virus that’s increasingly been politicized.
Under his color-coded coronavirus threat chart, each county is assigned a color based on seven different criteria with recommendations – but not requirements – based on severity.
“I think it’s the best that we can come up with because it takes a lot of things into consideration,” DeWine said. “And I think the scientists will say and the medical people will say when you’re taking seven things into consideration instead of just one, the odds of getting that right dramatically go up.”
As the situation has worsened around the country, governors in other states have taken actions like shutting down bars and requiring facial coverings in public. As of Thursday, 19 states required wearing masks in public, including California, New York, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Kentucky.
DeWine said he wants to avoid becoming Florida or Texas, which are recording thousands of new cases a day, out of fear of another shutdown that would cripple Ohio’s economy. The situation is dire enough in Texas that Gov. Greg Abbott on Thursday ordered residents in counties with more than 20 cases to wear masks in public.
Many in Ohio were calling for a similar mandate. Ohio posted a near record increase in cases with 1,301 on Thursday, the most since mass testing in prisons in April.
DeWine said he has no intention of doing that, but backed local officials who do so. He praised Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley, Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther and Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley for instituting mandates that people in those cities wear masks, a proven effective way to limit transmission of the virus.
What makes the current spike different from the crisis three months ago isn’t particularly clear, but, for whatever reason, DeWine seems happy to turn the fight over to local officials for now.
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July 03, 2020 at 04:05PM
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Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine changes course, passes coronavirus response to local officials - cleveland.com
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