As many had anticipated would be the case, Governor DeWine announced Wednesday afternoon that he would be issuing a statewide mask order.

The statewide mask order goes into effect at 6 p.m. Thursday.

DeWine stressed that the wearing of masks in all of Ohio’s counties – not just those at a level 3 or 4 health alert – will be crucial to determining how swiftly the state is able to return to something closer to normalcy.

The governor said that, in the 19 Ohio counties where mask mandates have already been put in place, there is a noticable decline in the number of new cases and hospitalizations.

Masks will be mandatory when in an indoor public place, and outdoors when social distancing cannot be maintained.

The mask order is for those 10 years of age and older, and includes some exceptions you can read about below.