FINALLY

Ohio, Minnesota Governors Issue Statewide Mask Mandates

The governors had both resisted ordering mandates for weeks.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and Minnesota Gov. Tim Waltz have issued executive orders mandating that masks be worn across the states. The Ohio mandate begins Thursday at 6 p.m. and requires everyone over the age of 10 to wear a mask in public places. “Wearing masks will make a difference,” the Republican governor said. “It will determine what our fall looks like. We want kids to go back to school, we want to see sports—to do that it’s very important that all Ohioans wear a mask.” Waltz, in a less sweeping mandate, ordered Minnesotans to wear masks at all indoor public areas beginning Saturday.

DeWine, like several other governors, had resisted issuing a statewide mask mandate for months, instead opting to mandate them in certain counties declared “red zones.” But many GOP leaders have reluctantly changed gears as the coronavirus ravages several states. Governors in Alabama and Arkansas mandated masks last week and DeWine’s statewide mandate comes a day after President Donald Trump’s about-face, in which he declared masks “patriotic.”