Mahoning County Public Health was alerted Thursday afternoon that Mahoning County has increased from Risk Level 2/Orange to Risk Level 3/Red in the Ohio Public Health Advisory Alert System.
To obtain Risk Level 3/Red, a county must trigger at least four to five of the seven data indicators. This week, Mahoning County met indicators 1, 2, 3, and 4:
- New Cases per Capita – 87.0 cases per 100,000
- Sustained Increase in New Cases – (9.0 average cases on Sept. 19 to 19.3 by Sept. 30)
- Proportion of Cases not in a Congregate Setting
- Sustained Increase in Emergency Department Visits (4.4 average visits on Sept. 25 to 8.9 on Oct. 4)
Mahoning County residents are encouraged to continue to follow all current health orders. Facial coverings are to be worn at all times. This includes when in any indoor location that is not a residence; when outdoors and unable to consistently maintain a distance of 6 feet or more from individuals who are not members of their household; and waiting for, riding, driving, or operating public transportation, a taxi, a private care service or ride sharing vehicle.
The Ohio Public Health Advisory Alert System is a color-coded system designed to supplement existing statewide orders through a data-driven framework to assess the degree of COVID-19 spread and to engage and empower individuals, businesses, communities, local governments, and others in their response and actions. The system consists of four levels that provide Ohioans with guidance as to the severity of the problem in the counties in which they live. The levels are determined by seven data indicators that identify the risk level for each county and a corresponding color code to represent that risk level.
Residents should follow the recommended guidelines for Risk Level 3 to reduce the spread of COVID-19:
- Conduct a daily health/symptom self-evaluation and stay at home if symptomatic.
- Maintain social distancing of at least 6 feet from non-household members.
- Wear face coverings in public, especially when social distancing is difficult to maintain.
- Increase caution when interacting with others not practicing social distancing or wearing face covers.
- Avoid traveling to high-risk areas.
- Follow good hygiene standards, including:
- Wash hands frequently with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.
- Use hand sanitizer frequently.
- Avoid touching your face.
- Cover coughs or sneezes (e.g., into a tissue, or elbow).
- Symptom self-evaluation monitoring.
- Avoid contact with anyone who is considered high-risk.
- High-risk individuals should take extra care to follow precautions.
- Decrease in-person interactions outside household.
- Seek medical care as needed, but limit or avoid unnecessary visits to hospitals, nursing homes, and residential care facilities to see others as much as possible.
- Decrease in-person interactions with others.
- Consider necessary travel only.
- Limit attending gatherings of any number.
About Mahoning County Public Health – Mahoning County Public Health works to protect the public’s health and to ensure conditions in which all people can live healthy lives. Mahoning County Public Health offers a variety of services from immunizations to environmental and community health programs. For a complete list of services, visit mahoninghealth.org….
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