Gov. Mike DeWine had some good news for Butler, Hamilton and Cuyahoga counties during today’s press briefing: all three have been moved off the “watchlist” to turn purple. However, they are still red on the state’s map.
Purple is the highest, most serious level in Ohio’s Public Health Advisory System. It means there is severe exposure and spread of COVID-19 in a county, and it has triggered six or seven of the state’s health alert indicators. Yellow is the lowest threat level.
There are now 19 “red alert” counties in Ohio: Butler, Hamilton, Cuyahoga, Clermont, Montgomery, Franklin, Pickaway, Fairfield, Lorain, Summit, Wood, Allen, Delaware, Licking, Lucas, Richland, Scioto, Union and Athens, which has moved to the purple watchlist.
All red alert counties will be under the Ohio Department of Health’s mandatory mask order starting at 6 p.m. tomorrow, when “approximately 60% of the population of Ohio will be living under a mask order,” said DeWine.
As of tomorrow night at 6:00 all Red Alert Level 3 counties will be under a mask order, meaning nearly 60% of Ohio will be required to wear masks in public. #MasksOnOhio pic.twitter.com/5wXYWccltI
— Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) July 16, 2020
The color-coded map system has four colors:
- Yellow: Level 1, which means there is active exposure and spread of COVID-19.
- Orange: Level 2, which means there is increased exposure and spread.
- Red: Level 3, which means there is very high exposure and spread — and triggers a mask mandate.
- Purple: Level 4, which means there is severe exposure and spread.
“The reason none of the counties are green is no matter what county you live in, you are at risk for contracting COVID-19,” said Andrew Thomas, chief clinical officer for the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center, during the briefing. “There is activity, to some degree, across the entire state. Until we have a vaccine or until we have a pharmacologic medication treatment that is known to stop the incidence of the disease and the spread of the disease, no county will really be anything less than yellow.”
A reporter asked DeWine what happens if a county goes purple.
He compared it to a weather report, a metaphor used by Thomas: The color coding is to inform the public in that county so that they can take action. “We ask them to take action,” DeWine said.
“We fixate a lot on what Mike DeWine orders, or what the (Ohio) Health Department orders or what your local health department orders, but the truth is no matter what I order or don’t order, the most important players in this game are the 12.7 million people in the state of Ohio,” DeWine said. “You control where Ohio’s going so much more than I do.”
Of his unexpected address to the state last night — when many thought he would issue additional orders or even possibly close down some businesses or partially roll back reopenings — he said it was his “argument to the jury” to explain the facts in a more organized way than his typical 2 p.m. briefing, and to clearly show what is at stake. “No one wants to see business shut down again,” he said.
“Every morning when I get up and I turn on the news and I see what’s going on in Florida or Texas or California or Alabama — other states — my worst nightmare is that that’s coming to Ohio. And we have good evidence when you look to where those states were a month ago, basically it’s where we are today,” DeWine said.
But he said he’s cautiously optimistic, especially based on what he’s seen out of Hamilton County.
“It looks like it’s working in Hamilton County. It’s too early (to tell), but we’re making progress,” he said.
In Hamilton County, DeWine said there were more than 1,400 new cases registered in the previous week, the amount of people seeking medical care has increased two and half times in the past three weeks and three quarters of new cases are outside of congregate settings. He mentioned outbreaks in “a high school, multiple workplaces and restaurants.” (Read the full Hamilton County report here.)
But, DeWine said, he’s seeing “a lot of good things coming together in Hamilton county as far as people wearing masks and becoming more cognizant, becoming more aware of the social distancing.” He said the numbers here are still high but seem to be slowing down or approaching a plateau.
HAMILTON: Local health officials have relayed to us that numbers may be plateauing. However, indicator data remains at a high level, and the number of people seeking medical care has increased two and a half times over the last three weeks.
— Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) July 16, 2020
In Butler County and Clermont County, cases are also still increasing. You can read the full Butler County report here.
BUTLER: Cases here are still increasing but at a slightly slower pace than during the previous week. Butler County, with 368,000 residents, has had more cases during the past two weeks than the entire country of Denmark, population 5.8 million, has had during the same period.
— Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) July 16, 2020
And the full Clermont County report here.
CLERMONT: During the past two weeks, they’ve had 130 new coronavirus cases which is 24% of their total cases since the beginning of the pandemic. With 197,000 residents, they’ve had more cases during the past two weeks than the entire country of Finland, population 5.5 million.
— Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) July 16, 2020
This article appears in The Summer Guide.