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Athens Co. Confirms No New COVID-19 Cases For May 20, Drops To Level 1

By: Aaron Payne
Posted on: Thursday, May 20, 2021

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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — Athens County dropped to a Level 1 on the Public Health Advisory System for the first time since it was upgraded to a Level 2 on September 3, 2020. The county also remained at 5,208 total cases of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic after no new cases were reported Thursday.

The Ohio Department of Health confirmed the news on May 20, 2021.

There are 37 known active cases in the county as of Thursday and 5,171 recovered cases, according to the Athens City-County Health Department.

The department also announced it has now administered 11,115 total first COVID-19 vaccine doses and 9,699 total second COVID-19 vaccine doses through its clinic at Ohio University Heritage Hall as of 2 p.m. A total of 39.40% of the county has started the vaccination process and 35.31% has completed it, according to ODH.

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.

Athens County dropped to Level 1 after dropping to Level 2 two weeks ago, according to this week’s Public Health Advisory map.

The county only met one of the seven state indicators, non-congregate cases.

Most surrounding counties remained at the same level, except for Jackson County, which was upgraded to a Level 2 Public Health Emergency.

Thursday at 2 p.m., the Ohio Department of Health announced 1,094,742 confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 statewide after 1,208 cases were reported in the last 24 hours. There have been 58,396 hospitalizations since the start of the pandemic.

ODH 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.