COLUMBUS – Hours before the news broke that President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump had tested positive for the novel coronavirus, Gov. Mike DeWine said he was concerned about a possible rebound of COVID-19 cases in some parts of Ohio.
While Delaware County in central Ohio was downgraded to “orange” on the state’s color-coded Public Health Advisory System (see map), there are currently 11 counties on “red” alert, signifying a very high risk of exposure and spread.
DeWine reminded Ohioans to stay home if they are sick, wear a mask when out in public and keep at least six feet between them others outside of their household.”
He says residents shouldn’t expect a complete return to normal until we achieve “herd immunity” in the state.
“We’re not going to get that without the vaccine. We’re not going to work our way into this for years,” he told reporters at his regular coronavirus briefing Thursday.
Eleven counties currently have a very high risk of exposure and spread: Ashland, Butler, Clermont, Hamilton, Mercer, Montgomery, Muskingum, Pike, Putnam, Richland, and Scioto. Richland County is on the borderline of a Level 4 public emergency with severe exposure and spread, the state reported.
The state Friday reported 1,495 new confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 for a total of 156,809 with 4905 deaths. There are 16,603 active cases, 322 more than Thursday.
Testing conducted in July indicates the actual number of Ohioans who have contracted the disease could be much higher.
Prevalence testing conducted by Ohio State for the Ohio Department of Health indicated that at least 213,000 Ohioans had contracted the disease between mid-April and late July, leaving millions still susceptible, Dr. Abby Norris Turner, of the OSU College of Medicine, said. Lt. Gov. Jon Husted indicated that the data indicates the number could be as high as 500,000.
The testing over 20 days in July showed that approximately 0.9% of Ohioans were likely infected with COVID-19 during the study and approximately 1.5%, had contracted the disease at some point since April, which is as long as researchers believe the antibodies remain detectable, Turner said. The first confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ohio were reported in March.