Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said on CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday that it would not surprise him "at all" if schools in his state did not reopen this school year due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The big picture: DeWine on Thursday became the first governor in the country to announce that all public and private schools in his state would close for three weeks or more.
DeWine explained that while students may not be as hard hit by the virus, they could act as carriers and infect more vulnerable members of society, such as grandparents or parents with underlying conditions.
There are currently at least 26 reported cases of coronavirus in Ohio.
What he's saying:
"Look, the projections — and again, this is all projections. I'm just going by what medical experts are telling us. You know, this may not peak until, you know, the latter part of April or May. So we've informed the superintendents, while we've closed schools for three weeks, that the odds are this is going to go on a lot longer and it would not surprise me at all if schools did not open again this [school] year."
