COLUMBUS, Ohio: Cuyahoga County and two southwest Ohio counties have been removed from the state’s “watch list” for the highest coronavirus alert status, Governor Mike DeWine said Thursday.
However, all three counties, as well as 19 counties in total, are now on red alert for coronavirus, meaning that around 60% of Ohio residents must now wear masks in indoor public places and when traveling by public transit. .
Speaking during a televised briefing, DeWine said that while Cuyahoga County is no longer on the cusp of reaching “purple” status, the county is still in a “critical stage,” with an average of 179 cases. new per day, up to 49 additional cases per day from June 23.
The reason Cuyahoga was downgraded was because hospital admissions have not increased at the rate they have in recent weeks, according to DeWine spokesman Dan Tierney. However, the governor said during his briefing that the county is “very close” to reaching the threshold for new hospital admissions, one of the factors that determine the threat level of each county.
Some new cases in Cuyahoga are being fueled by travel and recreational activities outside the city, the governor said. “It is critical that Cuyahoga County residents remain vigilant and do everything possible to reduce their risk and exposure to the coronavirus,” he said.
Butler and Hamilton counties were also removed from the purple “watch list,” although, like Cuyahoga, they remain on red alert. Only one red level county was downgraded: Trumbull County, which fell to “orange”, the second lowest of the four alert levels.
Eight other counties have been elevated to red alert status for the first time: Allen, Athens, Delaware, Licking, Lucas, Richland, Scioto and Union counties, DeWine said. Athens County is now the only Ohio county on the purple alert alert list, the governor said.
Outbreaks in bars in the university city of Athens have caused Southeast Ohio County to register more cases of coronavirus in the past two weeks than the rest of the combined pandemic, he said.
The Governor has said that there is a community spread of COVID-19 in all 88 Ohio counties. Each county’s color designation is determined by monitoring seven different data indicators, including recent increases in community outreach, doctor visits, hospitalizations, and ICU visits, among other factors.
Counties are designated “red” if they trigger 4-5 of those metrics; counties that have six or all seven factors are called “purple.”
In addition to the mask requirement for “red” and “purple” counties, the DeWine administration largely leaves it to individual Ohioans to determine for themselves what the difference is between the “red” and “purple” levels. In “red” counties, residents are encouraged to “consider travel as necessary” and “limit meeting attendance of any number.” In counties under “purple” or Level 4 counties, people are advised to limit themselves to “necessary travel” and to “only leave their homes for supplies and services”.
During a statewide speech Wednesday, DeWine urged all Ohioans to take “immediate action” to curb the spread of the virus, including wearing masks in public. But neither did he announce any new health orders, saying “that discussion is for another time.”
Dr. Andrew Thomas, clinical director of Ohio State University Medical Center, said during DeWine’s Thursday briefing that the color-coded system is intended to be an alert in the same way as a weather forecast.
“This is not a rating. This is a warning system, “he said.
DeWine
“In this case, we can do something with this information.
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