Governor Mike DeWine announced on April 22nd that the state of Ohio will slowly reopen starting May 1. DeWine said on Twitter, “It’s going to be gradual – one thing after another. We want to do this in a thoughtful way that engenders confidence and ensures customers and employees are safe.”

The stay-at-home order for Ohio will be lifted, local shops and businesses will open, and then there will be safety rules for people when going out into public. But this should have been done a long time ago.

Sophomore Dylan Gamber believes that essential businesses should have started a gradual opening to small groups much sooner. Gamber said, “If we allow for smaller groups to come together instead of groups, there will not be a resurrection later.”

Although reopening the state on May 1 causes some concerns, junior Megan Fowler said, “With the number of coronavirus cases in mind, we have already hit our peak. Also, many people have been out of jobs for so long with no income that they need to start working again.”

The US Bureau of Labor stated on April 16 that the national unemployment rate rose to about 13 percent. Justin Wolfers of The New York Times wrote, “The jobless rate today is almost certainly higher than any point since The Great Depression.”

DeWine spent an hour on Thursday explaining in a press conference how the process of reopening is going to be a long journey. He said, “When we talk about reopening, what we’re talking about is starting down a pathway where we can get people back to work.”

Fowler, a non-essential worker, feels this order being lifted can help her and many others. She said, “I think it would be good for people to start running businesses again. Some people such as waitresses did not have a source of income for the last month and a half.”

Gamber and his family have been affected in many ways by this tragedy. He wants the state economy to go back up again and for business to thrive again. But he said, “My only concern is that if we lift the order too early all the cases are going to come back or we will be right back where we were before.”

Governor DeWine is being cautious but also aggressive in his actions to get the state economy back up and running. DeWine said on twitter, “We want to get people working again and get them back to as normal a life as possible, but we have to be careful. We don’t want to see spikes in cases and we don’t want to have to pull back.”