We can't give up wearing masks as COVID cases fall: Ohio governor

Despite an increase in the number of people who have received COVID-19 vaccines, Americans should not stop wearing masks, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said on ABC’s “This Week” Sunday.

“With the vaccine, we’re now on the offense, that’s the great thing. But in Ohio, we can’t give up the defense. We have found that these masks work exceedingly well. Schools are a prime example, we’ve seen it in our retail … we know that this makes a huge, huge difference,” the Republican governor told “This Week” Co-anchor Martha Raddatz.

He said by the close of business Monday there will probably be over 2 million Ohioans who will have received their first vaccine dose and a million who have gotten the second dose.

“And you know every day gets better and better and better. But as we’re doing that, we can’t give up the defense and so we’ve got to, you know, continue to do that. ” he added.

Several GOP governors this past week began lifting mask mandates and further open up businesses amid declining coronavirus infection rates, despite guidance from the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention and the Biden administration.

The Ohio governor has not outlined similar measures, instead announcing Thursday that all Ohio health orders would end once the state gets down to 50 cases per 100,000 residents for two weeks.

As of Wednesday, the statewide average for COVID infections was about 180 cases per 100,000 residents for the last two weeks — less than half the average from early February.

ABC News’ Quinn Scanlan contributed to this report.

This is a developing news story. Please check back for updates.

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