COLUMBUS – Six months after the cancellation of the Arnold Classic in Columbus, the first action taken to protect the state from the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, national, state and local health officials are all worried about a spike after Labor Day.
“We’ve got a lot at stake,” Gov. Mike DeWine told reporters at his regular coronavirus briefing Thursday afternoon.
This weekend we face another important event: Labor Day weekend. Labor Day is time for some travel, picnics, and end-of-summer get-togethers – but #COVID19 is still a threat, and I ask you to continue to be safe.
— Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) September 3, 2020
He expressed concern that Ohioans at holiday weekend gatherings will spread the virus that causes the disease to recently reopened schools and elsewhere.
“What we do this weekend will really determine what our fall is going to look like,” he said.
He encouraged Ohioans who are planning to visit family and travel, to wear face coverings, practice social distancing and wash their hands often.
The concerns and the recommendations were echoed by local officials.
“We are at a critical point in our fight against COVID-19 and we must continue to be vigilant in order to keep our numbers moving in the right direction. Our community has done a great job to reduce the spread and we’ve seen declining case numbers thanks to their efforts,” Columbus Public Health Commissioner Dr. Mysheika Roberts said.
She called on residents to wear masks, stay at least 6 feet apart from others, avoid large groups of people, celebrate with people in your household, conduct activities outside if possible, wash hands and stay home if you they are sick.
DeWine is also worried about a surge in cases among young people, citing data that shows 35 to 40% of the Ohioans under age 30 who have tested positive for the virus are in the narrow 18-to-22-year-old age group, which he says is a significant increase from previous months.
Hundreds of positive cases of the new coronavirus are being reported at colleges in Ohio as more students return to campuses.
Ohio State tallied 882 cases among students during the first two weeks of the semester, along with 20 cases among faculty and staff in August.
Miami University started classes remotely but saw many students return to the Oxford area anyway. The college reports just over 700 student cases and two involving employees.
Another 250-plus coronavirus cases have been reported at other campuses around Ohio, spread across at least a dozen public and private colleges.
“In Cincinnati, multiple off-campus parties with students attending from several universities on August 17 have resulted in at least 78 confirmed cases,” DeWine said. “Although college students might not get seriously ill, they could spread the virus to others.”
New data compiled by the Ohio Department of Health indicates that seven counties currently have a very high risk of exposure and spread on the state’s Public Health Advisory System (see map above).
Twelve of Ohio’s counties moved from Level 2 on the four-tiered system to Level 1. The 39 counties at that level is the highest since July 2.
Franklin County, with 468 new cases Thursday and Friday and an aggregate total of 22,629 cases, remains at Level 2 – designated in orange on the state’s map – along with the surrounding central Ohio counties, but Health Commissioner Joe Mazzola said in a statement Friday he was concerned that, based on weekly data, the county may be elevated to Level 3 again.
When the county was designated “red” earlier, Mazzola recommended that school districts begin the school year remotely and many of them followed his advice.
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The state Friday reported 1,332 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 for a total of 128,444 with 4,248 deaths. The number of active cases climbed to 17,113.
Beginning Tuesday, parents, guardians and school staff should notify their school within 24 hours of receiving a positive COVID-19 test or clinical diagnosis and, the school should notify other parents about that case in writing within 24 hours, providing as much information as possible without releasing protected health information, under a health order issued by the state.
The school must also notify their local health department within 24 hours and beginning Sept. 15 local health departments will report the number of newly reported and cumulative cases to the Ohio Department of Health, which will publish this data by school or district, including a breakdown by students and staff, each Thursday.