PICKAWAY – The system imposed by Governor Dewine several months ago gives a snapshot on each county and where it stands in the COVID-19 pandemic. Colors yellow, orange, red and purple — aims to show prominence of the virus in each county, making it easier to implement additional closures or measures on a county-by-county basis. This idea was implemented to open up some counites while locking down others who were experiencing local spread. The Level is based on data collected by the Ohio Department of Health during the past 14-day period of 7 different indicators.
Today Dewine touched on several counites that have seen a rebound of the virus, one of them Scioto county that met the same four (4) of the seven (7) indicators on the PHAS again this week including: Indicator 1: New Cases per Capita; Indicator 2: New Cases Increase; Indicator 3: Non-Congregate Cases; and Indicator 5: Outpatient Visits.
Indicators that were not met by Scioto County this week included: Indicator 4: Emergency Department Visits; Indicator 6: Hospital Admissions; and Indicator 7: ICU Bed Occupancy.
This is different though in Pickaway County where over the last 14 day period the county has only triggered one to zero of the seven indicators, and is the lowest of the indicator numbers. Dewine in a press conference said no county would be removed from the advisory level because the virus remains out there with no vaccine.
There are seven different data indicators to determine the four levels, state officials said. Each data indicator helps identify the risk factor for each county. Those seven factors are as follows:
- NEW CASES PER CAPITA: When the data show that a county has had an average of 50 cases per 100,000 people over a 2-week period, that triggers a flag for an increasing case rate. Using this data means we are taking into account population of a county when monitoring case increases
- SUSTAINED INCREASE IN NEW CASES: If the number of new cases in a county continually increases, that’s another indicator of virus spread. A county will be flagged for meeting this indicator if the data show at least a five-day period of sustained new case growth.
- PROPORTION OF CASES NOT CONGREGATE CASES: Data showing more than 50% of new cases originating from non-congregate settings during at least one of the past three weeks will trigger a flag on this indicator.
- SUSTAINED INCREASE IN ER VISITS: ER data will show us the trend in the number of people who visit an emergency department with COVID-19 symptoms or a COVID diagnosis as a result of the visit. A county is flagged when there is an increase in such ER visits over a five-day period.
- SUSTAINED INCREASE IN OUTPATIENT VISITS: This data set looks at the number of people visiting outpatient settings, including telehealth appointments, with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 symptoms. A county is flagged when there is an increase over a five-day period.
- SUSTAINED INCREASE IN NEW COVID-19 HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS: When the numbers show at least a five-day period of sustained growth in the number of county residents with COVID-19 who are admitted to a hospital, the county will be flagged for meeting this indicator.
- ICU BED OCCUPANCY: This indicator looks at regional data for both COVID-19 and non-COVID use of ICU beds. A county is flagged for this indicator when the regional ICU occupancy goes above 80% for at least three of the last seven days.
As of 3:00 p.m. Wednesday, September 30, 2020 there is a total of 145,191 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Ohio and 4,501 deaths. Currently there are 2,571 confirmed positive COVID-19 cases in Pickaway County, 2,079 being inmates, leaving 492 local residents who have tested positive. There are 17 active local resident cases with 1 hospitalized. There are a total of 44 deaths, 37 being inmates and 7 community deaths.
