DeWine: ‘It’s going to be different’ once schools, businesses reopen in Ohio
COLUMBUS (WCMH) — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine warned residents things will likely change once recovery from the COVID-19 coronavirus shutdown begins.
Asked specifically about the reopening of colleges and how social distancing would be addressed, DeWine said that while it was too early to begin looking forward to the fall, things would likely changes.
“What I think we do know is that whether it’s a business, whether it is a college, whether it is K-12, whenever they do open again, it’s gonna be different,” he said. “I think that’s the thing I want to get across to people based on everything that I know and this is the hardest thing for me to accept, so I suspect its hard for other people, too, but until there is a vaccine, this monster, as I’ve referred to it, is going to be lurking around us. “
The governor also issued a warning to closed business who are looking forward to reopening.
“This is to every business out there that is chomping at the bit to reopen, it’s to every university, every college, every superintendent. You need to be thinking, ‘How am I going to open,'” DeWine said. “‘What am I going to do every single day to keep my employees safe, my customers safe, my students safe, my faculty safe, my teachers safe.’ We’re going to work with you on that, but that’s something you should be thinking about right now.”
DeWine said how businesses reopen is a bigger concern than when they reopen.
“You’re gonna open up with a situation that is not ideal, that is far, far from ideal,” he said. “Coronavirus, as far as we can tell, is still going to be very much here. It’s still going to be, for some people who get it, deadly.”
DeWine cited that some businesses will have employees wearing masks will be just one of many, many changes Ohioans could see.
The governor also addressed emails he receives from people comparing COVID-19 to the flu.
“I wish it was, it’s not,” he said.