OHIO — The state health department released a new county health advisory system map this afternoon.
“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 Gov. 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.”
- Alert Level 1 (Yellow): This level means a county has triggered zero or one of the indicators, and there is an active exposure and spread. No counties in the Miami Valley are at this level.
- Alert Level 2 (Orange): This level means a county has triggered two or three indicators and there is an increased risk of exposure and spread. Counties at this level are seeing cases that are growing in the last two weeks. Currently Logan County is at this level.
- Alert Level 3 (Red): This level means a county has triggered four or five indicators, and there is a very high exposure and spread. Risk is very high. Currently Greene, Auglaize, Clark, Champaign, Clinton, Darke, Miami, Shelby, Preble, Warren, Butler and Mercer counties are at this level.
- Alert Level 4 (Purple): The highest level means a county has triggered six or seven indicators, and there is severe exposure and spread. Officials say to stay home as much as possible when in this level. Montgomery County is at this level and Warren County is on the Level 4 Watch List
Gov. DeWine announced there are seven indicators the Public Health Advisory System uses to flag local health departments of coronavirus concerns.
Those indicators are:
- new cases per capita
- sustained increase in new cases
- proportion of cases that are not congregate cases
- sustained increase in emergency room visits
- sustained increase in outpatient visits
- sustained increase in new COVID-19 hospital admissions
- ICU bed occupancy
Here is a breakdown of what each indicator means.
New Cases Per Capita: A flag is triggered when a county has had an average of 50 cases per 100,000 people over a two-week period. This takes into account the population of a county when monitoring case increases.
Sustained Increased in New Cases: A county will be flagged for meeting this indicator if the data shows at least a five day period of sustained new case growth.
Proportion of Cases Not Congregate Cases: A flag is triggered when data shows more than 50 percent of new cases originating from non-congregate settings during at least one of the past three weeks.
Sustained Increase in ER Visits: A county will be flagged there is an increase in emergency room visit with COVID-19 symptoms or diagnosis over a five day period.
Sustained Increase in Outpatient Visits: A county will be flagged when there is an increase in the number of people visiting outpatient settings with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 symptoms over a five-day period.
Sustained Increase in New COVID-19 Hospital Admissions: The county will be flagged when the data shows at least a five-day period of sustained growth in the number of county residents with COVID-19 are admitted to a hospital.
ICU Bed Occupancy: A county will be flagged when the regional ICU occupancy goes above 80 percent for both COVID-19 and non-COVID uses of beds for at least three of the last seven days.
© 2020 Cox Media Group
