Northeast Ohio counties that were purple counties last week have moved to red and Richland County is the only purple county in the state.
The five Northeast Ohio counties — Summit, Portage, Stark, Medina and Richland — turned purple (Level 4), the most severe level, two weeks ago in the four-tier, color-coded Ohio Public Health Advisory System.
Summit, Portage, Stark and Medina counties dropped to red Thursday while Richland stayed purple.
Ohio reported 11,412 coronavirus infections and 117 additional deaths on Thursday as the state set a record for weekly deaths among vulnerable nursing home residents.
The new daily COVID-19 infections included cases not counted Wednesday as the state experienced problems that prevented labs from submitting all positive test results. The state’s average daily case total stands around 10,200.
The 117 reported daily deaths, which typically include some up to weeks old, increased December virus fatalities to 1,465, a record for monthly deaths.
COVID-19 in Ohio: 'Now we're 100% believers,' widower says of COVID-19 after death of his wife
With discharges and 370 new admissions, the number of virus patients in Ohio hospitals dropped to 5,018 on Thursday. Nearly a fourth of the ill were being treated in intensive-care units. Hospitalizations have increased 10% over the past three weeks.
The additions brought the pandemic case total to 596,178 and increased the death toll to 7,894.
A county can’t turn purple (Level 4) until it meets six or all seven indicators in the Public Health Advisory System for two consecutive weeks. The first week, it's red (Level 3) and on the watch list.
Once a county turns purple, it stays there until it meets fewer than six indicators for two consecutive weeks.
Summit, Medina and Stark counties met five of the seven indicators last week and this week met four of the indicators. Portage County last week was only meeting four indicators and met five this week. However, since all counties met fewer than six indicators two weeks in a row, they dropped to red.
But that doesn't mean the situation is dramatically improving — red still indicates very high exposure and spread, and hospitals across the region, state and country continue to see high numbers of COVID-19 patients.
It only indicates the county's met fewer than six of the system's seven indicators — from new cases to increases in emergency department visits, outpatient visits and hospital admissions and ICU bed occupancy — for two consecutive weeks.
Richland County remained purple Thursday. Last week, it met six of the seven indicators and dropped to five of the indicators this week. Indicator 4, or emergency room visits, was not met this week compared to last week.
Purple indicates severe exposure and spread of the coronavirus, and residents in those counties are asked only to leave their homes for supplies and services.
Residents in purple counties are also asked to follow the guidelines for red counties, which include decreasing in-person interactions with others, considering necessary travel only and limiting attending gatherings of any number.
Although the designation shows the coronavirus situation in a purple county is severe, there are no orders attached.
Two red counties — Ashland and Guernsey — were moved to the watch list last week. They remained red and on the watch list Thursday. The only county new to the watch list is Miami.
Last week and this week, there are only five orange (Level 2) counties in the state, down from eight the week before, mostly in the southeast corner of the state. Except for the purple counties, the rest of Ohio's 88 counties were red. There have been no yellow (Level 1) counties for weeks.
Gov. Mike DeWine has said the map was developed as an early warning system to let people know when to take increased precautions.
As the situation continues to worsen, DeWine said the map will still be released weekly, but it's not as helpful anymore. More relevant is data on hospital utilization and the rate of cases in each county, which helps show the odds of interacting with someone who has COVID.
Ohio COVID-19 cases by county
The Link LonkDecember 18, 2020 at 02:30AM
https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/news/coronavirus/2020/12/17/covid-19-ohio-dewine-updated-coronavirus-map-purple-red-summit-portage-stark-medina-richland/3922471001/
Ohio COVID-19 map: Only Richland County purple; most of state red - Akron Beacon Journal
https://news.google.com/search?q=Red&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
No comments:
Post a Comment