COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine urged school administrators to require children to wear masks when school resumes following the holiday break. 

What You Need To Know

  • Leaders of Ohio’s hospitals are urging schools to require masks when classes resume in January

  • Gov. Mike DeWine echoed those pleas as hospitalizations reached record levels on Wednesday

  • More than 100,000 Ohio school students have been infected with the virus since the start of the school year

  • Children represented 7% of all COVID hospitalizations as of Dec. 20

DeWine on Wednesday echoed the call made by the Ohio Hospital Association and the Ohio Children’s Hospital Association.

DeWine’s plea came as he announced that the state would be deploying 1,250 additional National Guard members to Ohio’s hospitals as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations reached an all-time high Wednesday.

“Schools need to require masks,” DeWine said. “At least for a few weeks while we are at this great, great surge.”

The organizations wrote that masks are helpful in slowing the spread of the virus. 

"We know that the virus that causes COVID-19 is spread when you cough, sneeze, talk, or sing. We know that masks work and are effective at slowing the spread of this virus. The best way to keep kids in school is to slow the spread of the virus. The best ways to slow the spread of the virus are to get vaccinated and wear a mask,” the organizations wrote in a letter. 

While many districts have relaxed masking requirements in recent months, the Cleveland Metropolitan School District announced it would be returning to all virtual learning from Jan. 4-7. 

According to self-reported data from Ohio’s schools, more than 106,000 students have been infected with COVID-19 since the start of the 2021-22 school year. That is out of nearly 1.7 million students statewide. 

The data, however, is self-reported and some districts have not consistently reported cases within schools. 

On Dec. 20, there were 135 children ages 0-17 hospitalized with COVID-19 throughout the state, according to the Ohio Hospital Association. At the time, pediatric cases represented about 7% of all hospitalizations for COVID-19 in Ohio.

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