Scioto County EMA Director Larry Mullins said Monday that six more Scioto County residents tested positive for Coronavirus. Mullins also shared the good news that 68 residents in Scioto County have recovered from COVID-19. That brings the number of folks diagnosed in the county to 104. Mullins said that currently five individuals are hospitalized in relation to Coronavirus at local hospitals.
Eight employees at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility tested positive. Two of them are recovered. The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections also reported 20 SOCF inmates currently in quarantine and five additional inmates awaiting test results.
Across Ohio, cases jumped 1,236 in the past 24 hours, bringing the statewide total to 76,168. The state reported 51,860 have recovered.
Scioto County’s rising number of COVID-19 prompted Governor Mike DeWine to raise our health alert status to red on Thursday. “Scioto County has seen more cases in the last two weeks than over the course of the rest of the pandemic. Almost all of these new cases were from outside congregate settings. Local officials report an outbreak at a daycare center and another at a workplace.” Masks are mandated in counties at the red alert level.
Check out the next two slides for an explanation of why Scioto County went red.
Rising Cases
The specific reasons given for the change in status were:
- New cases per capita (47 new cases in the past 14 days, representing 54 percent of our total cases.
- A sustained increase in new cases. (Since 6/23, the average daily number of new cases increased from 1 to more than 4) as of July 9
- The proportion of cases NOT in congregate settings (i.e. nursing homes, developmental disabilities group homes, assisted living). This indicates a community spread.
- A sustained increase in outpatient visits for COVID symptoms or diagnosis. ) From June 23 – July 14, this increased from 1/day to 5/day.)
Alert Levels
Ohio’s Health Alert Levels are as follows:
- 1 Yellow – Active Exposure and Spread
- 2 Orange – Increased exposure and spread
- 3 Red – Very high exposure and spread
- 4 – Purple – Severe exposure and spread
The indicators used to determine the ranking are:
- Number of new cases based on the population of the county
- A sustained increase in cases
- Cases not coming from high-risk settings like nursing homes or jails
- Increase in ER visits for COVID symptoms
- Sustained Increase in Outpatient visits for COVID symptoms
- Increase in new COVID hospital admissions
- ICU occupancy rate goes above 80% for three days
