Updated: 5:35 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020
Summit County has dropped from coronavirus alert Level 3, or red, down two levels to Level 1, or yellow, .
But more counties are moving up from Level 1 to Level 2, and in the case of Portage County, the increase in COVID-19 cases has taken the county up from Level 2 to Level 3.
About 70 percent of Ohioans are living in , the governor said.
Five counties are in the red, including Portage, which is home to the main campus of Kent State University. The majority of cases there are driven by activities in off-campus and Greek housing, DeWine said, and have increased from an average of 5.5 cases per 100,000 people in August to 11 cases per 100,000 as of Sept. 4. Portage County has also seen average daily outpatient visits increase from an average of six on Sept. 10 to nine on Sept. 15, according to Ohio Department of Health reporting.
鈥淭he majority of cases are being driven by activities in off-campus housing and to a lesser degree, Greek housing,鈥� DeWine said. 鈥淪o far in September, 51 percent of Portage County's cases are in people who are younger than 29.鈥�
But overall, Thursday鈥檚 reporting data for Ohio鈥檚 new COVID-19 cases, deaths, ICU admissions and hospitalizations were generally flat, the governor said.
The governor initially misspoke, and sent out an errant tweet, stating that Summit County had dropped one alert level, but later clarified that the county is in fact at yellow or Level 1, meeting only one of the seven pandemic warning indicators.
Kent State officials immediately released details of the school鈥檚 plans for operating and adhering to state guidelines under Portage County鈥檚 increased alert status. As of Sept. 18, all Kent Campus dining locations will serve takeout only. Visitors to residence halls will be limited to those Kent State students living on the Kent Campus.
鈥淭he increase of positive cases related to Kent State and the city of Kent can be attributed largely to off-campus gatherings. It is imperative that everyone follow the on and off campus, wear a face covering at all times, avoid large gatherings and limit in-person contact with others,鈥� the press release emphasized.
The governor also released the first round of coronavirus data from Ohio鈥檚 K-12 schools Thursday, including introducing two new statewide dashboards for checking on cases among students and staff at public and private schools.
The database is searchable by district and school name, but does not aggregate information, such as a total number of cases in schools statewide. The reports come from local health departments, following a state order mandating schools report cases to the departments, which are required to report weekly to the state.
鈥淛ust because there鈥檚 a student who鈥檚 associated with a school who has tested positive is no reflection on the teachers, the principal, the superintended or anybody else,鈥� DeWine emphasized Thursday. 鈥淎 school can be doing absolutely everything right. The school鈥檚 going to reflect what is going on the community. The fact that they have figured it out, the parents have, the school has, that the student has COVID and they鈥檝e taken the appropriate action and are working with the health department is a positive thing. And so we should look at that is a positive thing鈥� This is just one more effort to share information on what鈥檚 going on with regard to COVID.鈥�
DeWine emphasized that sports activities themselves are not causing the spread.
鈥淚n Cuyahoga County, eight high school volleyball players tested positive for COVID,鈥� he said. 鈥淎 few of the players attended a large graduation party a couple of weeks before they started feeling sick.鈥�
DeWine said his office will release initial guidance on Halloween Friday, but how to handle the usually high-contact holiday is mostly a community decision. He cautioned, however, that hayrides and haunted houses are more problematic due to the number of people involved, the close proximity of guests and whether or not patrons are wearing masks.
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