Ohio has now surpassed. The rapid increase in infection rates is alarming public health experts and it prompted Governor Mike DeWine to i. When the curfew went into effect a little over two weeks ago, more than 100 protesters gathered in the street outside the governor鈥檚 house to protest. I was there.
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On the street that night were protestors blocking the road, as cars slowly passed through the people pressed together. Boomboxes were blaring. A few people were leading chants from bullhorns like: "Science says...no more masks;" Open...Ohio;" and "O.H.I.O DeWine's got to go."
It was interesting looking at the license plates and seeing all the different counties people came from. We talked to people that came in from Cincinnati. I talked to a woman who came from Willard, Ohio, which is about three hours away.
There are very few masks here, if any at all. There are Trump flags.
When 10 p.m. hit and the curfew started, nothing really changed on the street.. A firework went off. There was cheers and more car horn honking. The state troopers were just standing there.
It's a tricky situation for the police to intervene because the protestors were demonstrating their First Amendment right by protesting.
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is the chair of the Department of Population and Public Health Sciences at Wright State University鈥檚 Boonshoft School of Medicine. She鈥檚 also on the .
"It doesn't matter," that the protests were protected speech, she said. "Social gatherings, regardless of their purpose, accelerate community spread." Dr. Orlowski said. "When we gather in groups and we're in close distance, and if we're not wearing masks, it gives the virus an opportunity to spread.鈥�
Despite the misinformation that was spread at the protests, Orlowski said masks do work.
"We do know that masks work," she said. "It鈥檚 an airborne virus and so wearing a mask protects us from being exposed to that virus but then also from putting that virus out into the air with people around us.鈥�
Also, big gatherings, like the protest outside DeWine鈥檚 house, pose another risk, Orlowski said.
鈥淲hen people are coming from different parts of our community or our state, there's an added risk because people may be exposed, and then they go back into their respective communities." Orlowski said "That could create new opportunities for spread.鈥�
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DeWine has said he's concerned about the current spread of the virus, and when he announced his curfew, But when it came to enforcing it outside his home, DeWine told me at a that鈥檚 not his call.
鈥淚鈥檓 not passing the buck in any way but that鈥檚 not what I do. So the security that we have is left in the patrol鈥檚 hands and in the hands of local law enforcement." DeWine said, "So those are not my decisions. None of it.鈥�
The State Patrol declined requests for comment as to the enforcement of the curfew. The governor and Greene County Public Health said people are entitled to their 1st Amendment right to protest. More than 3 percent of Ohioans have now contracted COVID19. As of Thursday, 6,794 people in Ohio have died.
Environmental reporter Chris Welter is a corps member with , a national service program that places journalists into local newsrooms.
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