Scioto County EMA Director Larry Mullins announced that Scioto County has been moved to Red Alert Health Status this afternoon. The county was given less than an hour’s notice of the change.
Governor Mike DeWine said, “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 Required
Under red alert status, masks are required in public places throughout the entire county. That order goes into effect in Scioto County tomorrow at 6 pm. On Monday, Portsmouth City Council passed mandatory mask legislation over the objections of Mayor Kevin E. Johnson. That legislation did not apply to the rest of the county.
Dr. Andrew Thomas, Chief Clinical Officer of OSU Wexner Medical Center said, “”It’s not meant to be a grade. It’s not meant to be anything beyond something like a weather forecast might be. What this system is designed to do is look forward. To make sure the proper steps are taken to try to reduce trends.”
The reasons given for the change in status are:
- 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.)
Scioto County reported three new cases today, bringing our total to 88. Additionally, Shawnee State University suspended all summer athletic camps after someone connected with its programs tested positive for Coronavirus. SSU’s athletic facilities are temporarily closed for extensive cleaning. SSU Athletics Director Jeff Hamilton said decisions about future summer camps will be made next week.
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
Red Counties
Red Counties as of July 16 are:
- Scioto
- Athens
- Franklin
- Union
- Delaware
- Licking
- Fairfield
- Pickaway
- Butler
- Hamilton
- Clermont
- Montgomery
- Richland
- Allen
- Lucas
- Lorain
- Cuyahoga
- Summit
- Wood
Butler, Cuyahoga, and Hamilton moved off the watch list for reaching level 4.