CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine plans to begin reopening Ohio on May 1, he said Thursday.

Ohioans will have to live with the threat of coronavirus until a vaccine is developed, he said. But he must restart the economy to bring jobs back and decrease the chance of other health issues, such as drug abuse and homelessness.

“We must get this right. If we do not do this right, the consequences are horrendous," he said.

DeWine -- whose stay-at-home order expires May 1 -- said he received a verbal update on a plan from a task force to reopen the state. That includes safeguards for companies where employees will return to work, including taking temperatures, wearing masks, wiping surfaces and more, at both offices and stores.

“The world that we’re going to see is a different world,” DeWine said. “Barriers, distancing, all the things we have talked so much about. The workplace is going to change.”

DeWine said Ohio has entered the end of the first stage of the fight against the coronavirus.

Three hundred eighty-nine people have died from COVID-19, according to the Ohio Department of Health on Thursday, including 16 probable deaths. The number of Ohio infections is 8,414, including 175 probable cases. The numbers continue to climb, though the curve has flattened.

Since DeWine closed bars and restaurants, more than 855,000 people have filed for unemployment benefits.

DeWine did not detail a plan for how businesses will reopen, when sporting events can take place or whether kids will go back to school in May. He said he expects to announce something on schools next week.

As for mass gatherings like county fairs, “the stuff we all really like,” DeWine said it will be tough.

“The thought of kids wouldn’t be able to take their lambs to show is, I think that’s just horrible," he said. "It’s something we all have to work through... They’re challenging. That doesn’t mean they can’t be done.”

He said he is also discussing plans with the governors of Kentucky, Indiana and other Great Lakes states. He currently has no plans to limit Ohioans traveling to their cottages on Lake Erie, but warned that people should continue to social distance.

“I will fight just as hard to bring this economy back.. as I have to fight to save lives of Ohioans," DeWine said. “That is our commitment to you.”

Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Amy Acton said she is optimistic about the new road the state is traveling.

“Our commitment to you remains very very strong," Acton said. "We’re fighting every day for your lives and your well-being and your livelihood as well. We know that health is so much more than whether you get sick or not... This has been a very, very trying time for all Ohioans.”

DeWine urged elderly Ohioans and those with underlying conditions, such as heart disease, to be extra cautious as they leave their homes after restrictions lift. He asked younger Ohioans “to be very responsible, worry about others” so they don’t spread the coronavirus.