On Friday, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine joined 3News' Russ Mitchell to discuss the state's response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
And a common theme of the discussion was the need for Ohio to fight two battles at once, balancing the threat of the virus and the economic impact of the measures the state has taken to fight it.
"These are all tough decisions. It's a risk whatever we do," said DeWine. "It's a risk if we just keep the economy shut down because we know there's not only economic consequences, people unemployed, but there's medical consequences, there's health consequences when the economy goes down like that."
On March 23, a stay-at-home order in Ohio went into effect, closing all businesses across the state except for those that had been deemed essential. On May 1, the state began the process of reopening its economy, with most businesses having been given a date to reopen by the end of the month.
Earlier this week, DeWine admitted that reopening so much of the state is a "gamble." But he also said it's one Ohio must take.
"We've got to try to do two things at once. We've got to try to come back [and] economically open things up," DeWine said. "The virus is still here. It's not going away. Ohioans have been great so far in how we kind of stay our distance and do what we have to do to reduce the spread. But as we open up Ohio, as people do more things, as they move about more, the risk certainly dramatically goes up.
"That's why I've said this is probably only in some respects, some of the most crucial, the most important month ahead of us and how we try to continue to keep that distance."
You can see our full interview with Gov. Mike DeWine in the video player below.