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With the state Legislature removing his autonomy to issue health orders and classes getting ready to start, Gov. Mike DeWine pleaded with school officials to require face masks to protect against COVID-19.
"If you are not requiring masks, please think about it again," DeWine said Tuesday. "At the very least, consider requiring masks for the next few weeks when we know the spread level will be very high. You can always go back to not wearing masks when the spread has reduced. With increasing numbers of new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, this is the time to take precautions -- not the time to take them away."
DeWine could reinstitute a mask order, but the Legislature could overturn it.
Even so, DeWine said: "We are clearly well past the time when the state can mandate to parents and school districts what actions to take. These decisions today rest with the parents and school officials."
He acknowledged that "there's a real desire by the state of Ohio to make their own decisions."
State Rep. Mike Loychik, R-Bazetta, said last week that he planned shortly to introduce legislation to prohibit schools in the state from mandating that students wear masks. There is a similar proposal in the state Senate.
Asked about student mask bans, DeWine said it would take away local control.
"I'm surprised by that, and I'm not in favor of that," said DeWine, a fellow Republican. He added it would be a "serious mistake" to approve such a law.
DeWine said: "The best way to make sure a child can stay in school is for that child to be vaccinated. If a child can't be vaccinated, the best way to ensure a good year is for that child to wear a mask."
Those at least 12 years old are eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine. DeWine said only 35 percent of children between the ages of 12 and 17 have been vaccinated.
Tuesday was the 15th consecutive day in which Ohio exceeded 1,000 daily COVID-19 cases. That includes eight that had more than 2,000 cases with three of them, including Tuesday, exceeding 3,000 reported cases. Those three days of more than 3,000 new cases occurred in the past seven days. That hasn't happened in more than six months.
The delta variant among the unvaccinated, which spreads quickly, almost entirely is to blame for the increase, said Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, director of the Ohio Department of Health.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention list 85 Ohio counties, including Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana, as high COVID-19 transmission areas and the state's other three counties as substantial transmission counties.
High transmission counties have at least 100 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people for the period between Aug. 9 and Sunday.
Mahoning had 125.94 cases per 100,000 residents while Trumbull had 129.31 cases per 100,000 and Columbiana had 167.84, according to the CDC. Just a day earlier, Mahoning had 121.57 cases per 100,000 residents while Trumbull had 115.67 and Columbiana had 149.19, according to the CDC.
The state was at 17 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 cases on July 7. It was at 236 cases per 100,000 Tuesday, DeWine said.
"With the delta variant (and) so many cases today, it will be very difficult to keep it out of the classroom," he said. "It will be impossible once it's in the classroom to keep it from spreading unless the students wear masks or are vaccinated."
COVID-19 DATA
The 3,235 new COVID-19 cases reported Tuesday is up from the daily average of 1,945 for the past 21 days, according to the Ohio Department of Health. Of those new cases Tuesday, 173 were in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties combined.
Ohio was averaging about 260 cases per day about five weeks ago.
The state had a total of 1,164,808 COVID-19 cases as of Tuesday with 1,103,387 presumed recovered while 20,648 people died.
The ODH usually provides death information on Tuesdays and Fridays.
Thirty-four more people died of COVID-19 since Friday including one in Mahoning County.
Mahoning County had 23,392 total COVID-19 cases as of Tuesday with 22,094 people presumed recovered and 616 deaths.
Trumbull County had 17,389 total COVID-19 cases as of Tuesday with 16,296 presumed recovered and 493 people who died.
Columbiana County had 9,597 total COVID-19 cases as of Tuesday with 8,996 presumed recovered and 236 deaths.
VACCINATIONS
There were 5,934,831 people, 50.78 percent of the state's population, who had at least started getting inoculated as of 6 a.m. Tuesday, including 11,690 in the previous 24 hours, according to the ODH.
In Mahoning County, 49.18 percent of the population (112,458 people) had received at least one dose while 47 percent of the population in Trumbull County (93,047 people) and 39.7 percent in Columbiana County (40,440 people) had started as of 6 a.m. Tuesday, according to the ODH.
There were 5,490,359 people, 46.97 percent of the state's population, who finished the vaccinations as of 6 a.m. Tuesday, including 7,760 in the prior 24 hours.
In Mahoning County, 45.4 percent of the population (103,829 people) had completed the process while 43.08 percent of the population in Trumbull (85,283 people) and 36.79 percent of the population in Columbiana (37,484 people) had as of 6 a.m. Tuesday.