T-L Photo/CARRI GRAHAM Protesters hold signs up outside the Monroe County Health Department during Gov. Mike DeWine’s site visit Monday.

WOODSFIELD — A few protesters gathered outside the Monroe County Health Department during Gov. Mike DeWine’s site visit Monday morning.

Audrey Caeton, a small business owner in Woodsfield, said the group members were unhappy with the governor’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and wanted to ensure their voices were heard. She said the shutdowns have negatively impacted small businesses and placed “illegal” mandates on those businesses.

“We’re small business owners that have seen the effects of the COVID shutdowns. Small businesses have been illegally shut down and illegally mandated to do things — mandated facial coverings,” she said.

This is not Caeton’s first protest against DeWine. She said she has attended numerous protests throughout the year, including those held at his home in Cedarville, Ohio.

Caeton said the protesters want DeWine to end all of the coronavirus-related mandates.

“We want him to stop shutting down businesses, and we want him to open up and listen to us,” she said. “People can choose if they want to wear a mask or not, and they can choose to take the vaccine or not. It should never be a mandate, it should never be forced on businesses. It is unconstitutional and it is illegal.”

Caeton said the protesters are also against the coronavirus vaccines, which she alleged are “dangerous.” She referenced data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that found around 2,000 people in the United States have died after receiving a vaccine. According to the CDC, 126 million doses of the vaccine were administered from Dec. 14 to March 22. The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System received 2,216 reports of deaths among people who received a vaccine. However, the CDC notes that the reports of death do not necessarily mean the vaccine caused the death.

“To date, VAERS has not detected patterns in cause of death that would indicate a safety problem with COVID-19 vaccines,” the CDC states.

Caeton said she hopes the protests will help urge DeWine to limit the mandates and reopen Ohio.