In the state's latest heat map released Thursday showing the spread of new coronavirus in Ohio, 84 counties – including those in Southwest Ohio – were red for "very high exposure and spread." The remaining four were orange.
Last week's map had one county, Richland, at the purple level, indicating "severe exposure and spread" of the coronavirus. The week before that, five counties were in the purple zone.
The map, based on seven indicators, shows conditions have improved in Butler, Hamilton and Warren counties over the last week. But conditions continued to worsen slightly in Clermont County.
The rate of new cases in the last 14 days in Clermont is now at its highest level during the pandemic, standing eight times above the level where there is community spread of the virus.
Butler, Hamilton and Warren counties all saw drops in the rates of new cases per 100,000 residents. But the rate remains seven times above the level of community spread level in Butler and Hamilton counties, while its eight times above the community spread level in Warren.
There are no state mandates or restrictions tied to the alert levels, but the designation could inform changes at the local level. Some school districts have tied in-person classes to certain color designations.
Residents in "red" counties are advised to "limit activities as much as possible" and "limit attending gatherings of any number." Residents in "purple" counties are advised to leave home only "for supplies and services."
The county ratings are based on seven indicators:
- New cases per capita.
- Sustained increase in new cases.
- Proportion of cases not in a congregate setting.
- Sustained increase in emergency department visits for COVID-like illness.
- Sustained increase in outpatient visits for COVID-like illness.
- Sustained increase in new COVID hospital admissions.
- Regional intensive care unit bed occupancy.
Counties that meet two or three indicators are coded orange and considered to be a Level 2 public advisory. Counties meeting four or five indicators are red, Level 3 public advisory. Counties meeting more than five indicators for two weeks in a row are purple.
All 88 Ohio counties reported three times the number of cases the CDC considers "high incidence" over the past two weeks – 100 cases per 100,000 residents.
For more details on each county's indicators on the Ohio Public Health Advisory System, visit coronavirus.ohio.gov.
Source link
