11 counties now under Level 3 of Ohio’s coronavirus alert system

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (WJW) — Governor Mike DeWine and the Ohio Department of Health released a new map for the Ohio Public Health Advisory Alert System, which determines a county’s risk for coronavirus.

As of Thursday, eleven Ohio counties, including Cuyahoga and Medina, are considered a Level 3 emergency, which means there’s very high exposure and spread of COVID-19.

Ohio's latest #COVID19 data can be found at https://t.co/3lWx4IRScb.

This week's updated Public Health Advisory map is also available at https://t.co/58Cg4HJ1uM pic.twitter.com/bAcRUehOsg
— Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) August 6, 2020

The alert rankings are based on the following factors: new cases per capita, sustained increase in new cases, proportion of cases that are not in congregate settings, sustained increase in COVID-19-related emergency room visits, sustained increase in COVID-19-related outpatient visits including telehealth, sustained increase in COVID-19 hospital admissions and intensive care unit occupancy.

Counties in Level 3, or the Red Level, meet four or five of the aforementioned indicators.

Last week Ohio had thirteen counties under a Level 3 alert. Here’s a look at what has changed in the last even days:

Upgraded to Level 3: Mercer
Downgraded to Level 2: Henry, Hamilton, Lawrence

Since the pandemic began, there have been 97,471 total confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 in Ohio, resulting in 3,618 deaths. (Note: These numbers are as of August 6, 2020.)

Here are the Ohio counties with the most coronavirus cases:

Franklin: 17,834
Cuyahoga: 13,141
Hamilton: 9,374
Lucas: 5,155
Montgomery: 4,174

Here are the Ohio counties with the most coronavirus deaths:

Franklin: 521
Cuyahoga: 491
Lucas: 320
Mahoning: 254
Hamilton: 252

All Ohioans are required to wear masks in public places where social distancing is not possible and are encouraged to continue healthy hand hygiene, staying home when feeling ill and doing their best to prevent further spread of COVID-19.