Hamilton County Health Commissioner Greg Kesterman (who now officially holds the title and is no longer interim) gave an update on the county’s COVID-19 numbers during a press briefing today.
As of this morning, Hamilton County is still considered a red Level 3 county with a “star,” which means it is on the watchlist to turn into a purple Level 4 county under the Ohio Public Health Advisory System.
Level 4 is the highest the ranking goes and means a county has triggered six or seven alert indicators and has a severe amount of coronavirus exposure and spread. Citizens in purple Level 4 counties are advised to follow the existing COVID-19 guidance for other levels — like the fact that those in red Level 3 counties have state health department orders to wear a mask in public — and only leave home for supplies and services.
According to Kesterman, Hamilton County’s COVID-19 cases and several other indicators have increased over the past three weeks. The group seeing the biggest uptick in infections are those ages 20-39.
“Between June 24 and June 30, Hamilton County had over 1,100 cases — the largest number of COVID-19 cases in any week since the beginning of the pandemic,” Kesterman said. “In recent weeks, more than 86% of our cases are not in congregate care settings. That means 86% of cases are community spread and not from nursing homes and settings where people are living in small quarters. In addition, Hamilton County also hit a new threshold for the overall use of our intensive care unit beds which exceeded 80% for the last five of seven days.”
“So what does all this mean? At this point it means we need to mask,” he said.
Health Commissioner Greg Kesterman: Masking is the best defense against spread of the virus. pic.twitter.com/w6BbqNSp3N
— Hamilton County, OH (@HamiltonCntyOH) July 15, 2020
Over the past two weeks, Hamilton County Public Health and the National Guard tested 6,100 people at pop-up and other sites (if you have been tested and haven’t gotten your results, the labs are backed up; look for a call from this number 513-946-7800). And with more testing comes more reported cases of COVID-19.
“The more we test, the more we will find COVID-19, but the numbers about hospitalizations and intensive care unit admissions have no relationship to the amount of testing,” Kesterman said. “People who get tested, people who don’t get tested, end up in the hospital in the same way.”
He said in mid-June, the county was at 60 hospital admissions and is now at over 175. At the first peak in April, the county was at about 150. In mid-June, there were 15 ICU admissions and there are now 60. In April at the peak, there were 75 ICU admissions.
Kesterman said he’s been hearing of people getting sick at family gatherings, or members of one household making others sick. And then a lot of individual cases, so “it’s a big mix.” He also said contact tracers have not yet linked any specific cases back to gatherings at bars or restaurants or pools, but they are watching it very closely.
“When I was out this weekend, I was looking at nine out of 10 — if not even more — wearing masks, so this new mask mandate from the governor and director of health have had a significant impact on the number of people wearing masks,” Kesterman said. “If we can see 80% of people wearing masks, we will see a decline in COVID-19 cases.”
Hamilton County Commission President Denise Driehaus noted that the mask mandate for red Level 3 counties has only been in effect for a short time, so we haven’t yet seen how that 80% compliance will impact COVID numbers.
When asked whether or not she knew what Gov. Mike DeWine’s 5:30 p.m. address tonight (July 15) would be about, and whether or not it would include any additional restrictions, she said she didn’t know exactly what was going to be announced but that we all know what we need to do — mask up, social distance, stay home when we’re sick — so let’s do it. And said “no one wants to shut down businesses.”
Tonight, I will address the State of #Ohio on the current state of the #Cornonavirus pandemic and the recent increases in cases and virus spread. The broadcast will be carried live at https://t.co/90BcIYqI19. You can also check your local listings for television/radio options. pic.twitter.com/9ATRX96aNY
— Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) July 15, 2020
“We’ve been through that. It can be devastating. We have launched a bunch of programs to try to help small businesses see this through, but no one wants that. And that is why we are pleading with people to wear masks — because that’s the strategy we can employ to keep businesses open,” she said.
It’s a sentiment and strategy echoed by Kesterman.
“We are all tired of COVID-19 but let’s not give up yet,” he said. “As we open up more, it’s more important than ever to respect the people that continue to serve us, as well as each other. Wear a mask, stay home if you’re sick, treat workers with respect and, most of all, be kind.”
This article appears in The Summer Guide.
