search
Donate

News

Athens Co. Remains At Level 2 Public Health Emergency, Confirms 12 COVID-19 Cases For September 17

By:
Posted on:

< < Back to athens-co-remains-at-level-2-public-health-emergency-confirms-12-covid-19-cases-for-september-17

ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — Athens County stayed at a Level 2 Public Health Emergency as 12 COVID-19 cases confirmed Thursday brought its total to 569 since the beginning of the pandemic.

The Athens City-County Health Department confirmed the news in a press release sent September 17.

The Ohio Public Health Advisory System map for Sept. 17
[ODH]
Gov. Mike DeWine released this week’s Ohio Public Health Advisory System map during his press conference Thursday.

Athens County triggered three of the state’s seven indicators, the same as last week: new cases per capita, new cases increase and non-congregate cases.

The county was upgraded to Level 2  two weeks ago.

DeWine also released a list of the top 20 counties ranked by highest occurrence of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people that put Athens at third.

“Ohio University students are certainly impacting the county,” he said. “Outbreaks in Athens have been associated again with off-campus activities.”

A list of the top 20 counties ranked by highest occurrence of COVID-19
[ODH]
Analysis of Ohio Department of Health data indicates nine of these new cases involved people aged 20-29 and three involved people aged 0-19.

There are 115 known active cases in the county as of Thursday. There are 452 recovered cases, according to the local health department. A total of 27 people have been hospitalized due to complications related to COVID-19 symptoms since the beginning of the pandemic. There have been two deaths related to COVID-19 in the county.

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 141,585 confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 statewide as of Thursday at 2 p.m. There have been 14,625 hospitalizations and 4,580 reported deaths.

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.

An age breakdown of Athens Co. COVID-19 cases for Sept. 17, 2020.
An age breakdown of Athens Co. COVID-19 cases for Sept. 17, 2020. [ODH]
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.