Name: As pandemic worsens, legislature still refuses mask mandate at the Capitol
Brand: news5cleveland.com
SKU: news5cleveland-com-3
Availability: OnlineOnly

critic

As pandemic worsens, legislature still refuses mask mandate at the Capitol

preview

Ohio Statehouse in Columbus. Courtesy of WikiMedia Commons.7:11 AM, Oct 05, 2020COLUMBUS, Ohio — The following article was originally published in the Ohio Capital Journal and published on News5Cleveland.com under a content-sharing agreement.The new coronavirus has killed more than 209,000 Americans — including 4,925 Ohioans — and infected the leader of the free world and the quarterback of the New England Patriots alike.Yet still, Ohio’s legislative leaders have rebuffed any requirement that members and their staff wear masks at the Capitol.Facial coverings are among the cheapest and most effective tools for staving off the virus, as evidenced by peer-reviewed science. CDC Director Robert Redfield has described them as more effective than any vaccine.Prominent medical groups and journals like the , , or the support universal masking policies as a means to prevent the spread of COVID-19.Gov. Mike DeWine’s administration issued a in July, but maintains that enforcing the mandate in judicial or legislative buildings would amount to a violation of the separation of powers enshrined in the U.S. Constitution.“What the two branches of government do, I can’t control that,” he said to reporters Friday in a special press conference after President Donald Trump tested positive for COVID-19.The Ohio Statehouse is perhaps the only public building in the state whose patrons need not wear masks under the public health decree.Senate President Larry Obhof, R-Medina, in a , “encouraged” staff to wear masks in public spaces of the Capitol but did not require it.House staff are not required to wear masks, per a Sept. 16 human resources email obtained by the Ohio Capital Journal, unless they are in the common areas of the House office building that are “controlled by the governor.”Spokespeople for Obhof and House Speaker Bob Cupp, R-Lima, did not respond to inquiries.DeWine said Friday he’s not planning to expand the mask mandate to encapsulate the Statehouse but hinted that he suspects GOP lawmakers will come around on their stance against masks.The business-as-usual appearance of a Statehouse filled with barefaced lawmakers at work stands in stark contrast to a country shuttered in at home or spaced out and masked up when out and about.Generally, Republicans lawmakers have refused to wear masks and Democrats have. Some Republicans wear masks, some do in lower profile situations or keep them in their pockets, but the partisan contrast is unmistakable.In the House, Republican leaders .“The small Democratic minority in the Ohio House is not going to govern what the majority does,” said House Majority Leader Bill Seitz after the vote. “They don’t have that kind of control over the duly elected representatives of the people.”In an interview after the May 19 hearing, Seitz unsheathed a printout of stating that masks are ineffective to prevent COVID-19. A spokesman later said supporting facial coverings “does not change Rep. Seitz’s feelings on the use of face masks.”Among GOP lawmakers, Seitz is not alone. Rep. Candice Keller was , per the Cincinnati Enquirer. Rep. Nino Vitale won’t wear a mask because “.” Rep. Jon Cross said .Former House Speaker Larry Householder was not publicly seen in a facemask until his mid-July arrest in connection with a federal racketeering charge — the federal courthouse .On Friday, Democratic Rep. Kent Smith, responding to Trump’s infection, said he has only seen “a few” House Republicans wearing masks during floor sessions while the “overwhelming majority” do not. He called on Cupp to implement a mask mandate.“The work of the people need not become a super spreader event during a global pandemic without a treatment or cure,” he said. “To continue to ignore this threat is reckless, irresponsible, cowardly and ignorant.”Ryan Smith, a former GOP House Speaker turned university president, declined an interview to discuss masks in the Statehouse.“Sorry but that is not an issue I care to get in the middle of,” he said.Members and staff alike have been infected. Democratic Sen. Tina Maharath as well as Republicans Sens. Bob Peterson and Frank Hoagland contracted the disease. Democratic Rep. Stephanie Howse contracted the virus as well this summer, as did , per a Friday Twitter post.At least , prompting the House to re-institute a work-from-home policy.In all, the weekend proved to be a firehose of bad pandemic news. The country reeled from news of Trump’s positive test and related infections of three Republican U.S. Senators, senior members of Trump’s campaign, and (in an unrelated case) .Meanwhile, new Ohio Department of Health data continued an “alarming” upward infection rate in Ohio, as DeWine described it Friday. Friday data reflected the largest one-day new caseload (1,495 new infections) since July, and the most deaths (88) reported in a day since early May.“I think this is a powerful reminder to us that we have to do the basic things,” he said of the new cases and Trump’s diagnosis. “We have to wear masks, we have to socially distance. We have to avoid crowds.”See complete coverage on our News 5's initiative to help people through the financial impact of the coronavirus by offering one place to go for information on everything available to help and how to access it. We're providing resources on: - Learn about the latest job openings, how to file for benefits and succeed in the job market. - Find help on topics from rent to food to new belt-tightening techniques. - Feeling isolated or frustrated? Learn ways to connect with people virtually, get counseling or manage your stress. - Keep track of the way people are spending your tax dollars and treating your community. is place created by News 5 to open us up to new ways of thinking, new ways of gathering and new ways of supporting each other. including a COVID-19 overview from the CDC, details on cases in Ohio, a timeline of Governor Mike DeWine's orders since the outbreak, coronavirus' impact on Northeast Ohio, and link to more information from the Ohio Department of Health, the Cuyahoga County Board of Health, the CDC and the WHO. including county-by-county maps, charts showing the spread of the disease, and more.The CDC and the are now recommending the use of cloth face coverings in public to slow the spread of COVID-19. Read more about the Here is a without having to know how to sew.View a with data from Johns Hopkins University.Copyright 2020 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.Data from

Ohio Statehouse in Columbus. Courtesy of WikiMedia Commons.7:11 AM, Oct 05, 2020COLUMBUS, Ohio — The following article was originally published in the Ohio Capital Journal and published on News5Cleveland.com under a content-sharing agreement.The new coronavirus has killed more than 209,000 Americans — including 4,925 Ohioans — and infected the leader of the free world and the quarterback of the New England Patriots alike.Yet still, Ohio’s legislative leaders have rebuffed any requirement that members and their staff wear masks at the Capitol.Facial coverings are among the cheapest and most...

As pandemic worsens, legislature still refuses mask mandate at the Capitol

No article scores yet.

CRITIC REVIEWS

PUBLIC REVIEWS