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Athens Co. Remains At Level 3 Public Emergency, Removed From Level 4 Watch List

By: Aaron Payne
Posted on: Thursday, July 23, 2020

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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — Athens County remained at a Level 3 Public Health Emergency on Thursday, according to the Ohio Public Health Advisory System. But the county is no longer considered to be at a high risk of reaching a Level 4 Public Health Emergency.

Gov. DeWine revealed the updated Public Health Advisory System Map during his press conference on Thursday.

The county triggered five of the seven indicators: new cases per capita, increase in new cases, non-congregate cases, emergency room visits and outpatient visits.

“During the past 14 days, 136 COVID-19 cases have been identified in Athens County, excluding incarcerated individuals, which represents 47 percent of the county’s total cases for the entire pandemic,” according to the ODH report.

Athens County has now had 303 cases of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic after  11 additional cases were confirmed Thursday.

The Athens City-County Health Department announced the cases in a press release sent July 23.

No demographic information was provided by the health department regarding the cases.

An analysis of ODH data indicates six of the cases confirmed Thursday involved people aged 20-29, three involved people aged 40-49, one involved a person aged 60-69 and one involved a person aged 70-79.

There are 149 known active cases in the county as of Thursday. There are 153 recovered cases, according to the health department. Thirteen people in the county have had to be hospitalized since the start of the pandemic. There has been one death related to COVID-19 in the county that happened in March.

A county-wide mask mandate from the state went into effect at 6 p.m. last Friday after the county was designated as experiencing a Level 3 Public Health Emergency. A statewide mask mandate goes into effect Thursday at 6 p.m.

Anyone experiencing respiratory symptoms is asked to call their primary care physician, urgent care, or emergency department before arriving for care to let them know that they believe they are experiencing symptoms related to COVID-19 virus.

The Ohio Department of Health announced 80,168 confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 statewide as of Thursday at 2 p.m. There have been 9,968 hospitalizations and 3,256 reported deaths.

The DOH makes the following recommendations to protect yourself from illness:

• Wash hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds; dry hands with a clean towel or air dry hands.
• Use alcohol-based hand sanitizer when soap and water are unavailable.
• Cover your mouth with a tissue or sleeve when sneezing or coughing. Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands.
• Stay home when you are sick.
• Avoid contact with people who are sick.

Ohio’s coronavirus call center is open to answer questions from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. The hotline number is 1-833-4-ASK-ODH or 1-833-427-5634. More information is available at coronavirus.ohio.gov.