COLUMBUS — Officials are taking steps such as reducing jail populations in Ohio’s most populous counties as they work to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
In Franklin County, which includes Columbus, officials said Saturday the jail population has been reduced by about 300.
In the past week, the efforts have been most notable at the Cuyahoga County jail in Cleveland, where the population fell from nearly 2,000 inmates last week to just under 1,300 on Friday. Officers are being told to issue citations for nonviolent crimes.
In Hamilton County, which includes Cincinnati, the jail population recently fell to just over 1,000 from around 1,600 on Monday.
Officials say the coronavirus has killed three people in Ohio with nearly 250 confirmed cases as COVID-19 continues to spread throughout Ohio.
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Ohio Health Director Dr. Amy Acton warned that the data is not reflective of the true extent of COVID-19 in Ohio.
“This data is a snapshot of the past because everything points to the fact that we had a seeding of COVID-19 in Ohio early on, yet we were one of the last states to get the reagents we needed to do testing,” she said Dr. Acton.
She warned data relying on test results may continue to underestimate the spread of coronavirus.
“This data is not telling the full story of what is happening here,” she said. “Even the data you see in the future is minimal because we are conserving all our available testing for the most high-risk and hospitalized front line workers…because we are running out of reagent to conduct these tests.”
Acton said during a briefing Saturday that there are three nursing home “hot spots” in the state: in Miami County near Dayton, Tuscarawas County in northeast Ohio, and Cleveland.
The state has ordered the closing of day services for people with developmental disabilities and Attorney General Dave Yost has ordered the closing of abortion clinics that remained opened after the state issued a ban on elective surgeries earlier this week.