When the decision to lift most Ohio Department of Health Coronavirus related mandates at midnight last night was first announced last month I thought today would be the day that I could throw all of the face masks I’ve collected in to the trash. But, not so fast!  Facial coverings  will still be required on order of the state inside nursing homes and assisted living centers for the foreseeable future, and will also continue to be a requirement in hospitals and many other medical facilities. Owners of restaurants and  other businesses can still require you to wear a face mask inside if they choose to do so.  As we enter a new chapter of the battle against Covid19, it is nice to know that you will be able to see more of the faces of the people you encounter each day. It’s very hard not to feel a great degree of sadness for the more than 18 thousand Ohioans, including my mom, who have been listed as casualties of the worst pandemic to impact our country in more than a century, and sadness for the owners of hundreds of Ohio businesses who were forced to close their operations permanently under the weight of  the 15-month old mandates.  I must admit that at the height of the pandemic I wondered if a day like today would ever come, but it has. How you will react to the lifting of the health mandates will be largely up to you, just as it should be. That’s the way I see it.