LAKE COUNTY, Ohio — Lake and Lorain counties in Northeast Ohio joined Franklin County at purple Level 4 on Wednesday after continuing to meet six of the seven COVID-19 indicators that are part of the state's Public Health Advisory System.
Montgomery County also joined the list.
Lake, Lorain, and Montgomery counties moved to the highest level in the alert system because they have been experiencing sustained increases in outpatient, emergency, and hospital visits by COVID-19 patients.
The Ohio Department of Health announced that 11 counties moved to the watch list. Those counties are:
- Adams.
- Clermont.
- Hamilton.
- Medina.
- Portage.
- Richland.
- Stark.
- Summit.
- Trumbull.
- Warren.
- Wood.
Ten of the 11 counties on the watch list are in the Akron and Cincinnati regions, which now have fewer adult ICU beds available. This is largely due to increases in COVID-19 ICU patients, according to ODH.
“The ongoing high prevalence of the virus throughout Ohio, as reflected in today’s alert system update, is very dangerous as we move into the holidays,” said Governor Mike DeWine. “We have heard again this week from hospital administrators and front-line staff about how they are overwhelmed. It is imperative that Ohioans take the virus and this current situation seriously.”
You can find more details about each county's status in the state's Public Health Advisory System here.
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Click here for a page with resources including a COVID-19 overview from the CDC, details on cases in Ohio, a timeline of Governor Mike DeWine's orders since the outbreak, coronavirus' impact on Northeast Ohio, and link to more information from the Ohio Department of Health, the Cuyahoga County Board of Health, the CDC and the WHO.
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The CDC and the Ohio Department of Health are now recommending the use of cloth face coverings in public to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Read more about the CDC's recommendation here. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to make a face maskfrom common household materials, without having to know how to sew.
View a global coronavirus tracker with data from Johns Hopkins University.
