Columbus will require all employees and visitors to mask up in city buildings starting on Monday. Meanwhile, Ohio鈥檚 daily COVID cases are surging back to levels we haven鈥檛 seen since February.
The delta variant is tearing through Franklin County where just over half of the population is fully vaccinated. New cases have more than doubled in the last two weeks, and Columbus Public Health Commissioner Dr. Mysheika Roberts has a simple message.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really important now that our community does two things to help us,鈥� Roberts said. 鈥淭hey need to mask up when they鈥檙e out of their house. So when they鈥檙e indoors they should be wearing masks, when they鈥檙e in crowded spaces they should be wearing masks. And if you鈥檙e not vaccinated, you should be making plans to get vaccinated now. Don鈥檛 wait, get vaccinated now.鈥�
The new masking requirements will apply to all workers and visitors, regardless of vaccination status. In a press release, the city cites preliminary evidence that vaccinated people who get breakthrough infections can then pass the virus on to others.
Roberts said the city saw an uptick in vaccinations through it鈥檚 Vax Cash program, which gave out $100 gift cards in exchange for getting a shot.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 kind of leveled off now,鈥� Roberts said. 鈥淏ut we need more people to get vaccinated. We need our community to roll up their sleeves if you鈥檙e eligible and get vaccinated now.鈥�
That effort was initially set to end Monday, but Roberts expects to extend it. She said residents responded well to the weekly vaccination clinic model, and she wants to continue with that framework.
鈥淭he community knew on Tuesdays you can go here the Columbus health department will be there with vaccines, on Wednesday you can go here,鈥� Roberts describes. 鈥淎 lot of what we鈥檙e getting is word of mouth鈥攐ur family came, our neighbors came, they were here last week and told us to come this week鈥攕o that鈥檚 the kind of stability we鈥檙e looking for.鈥�
Franklin County remains at the CDC鈥檚 highest level of community transmission with seven day average of more than 100 cases per 100,000 residents.
