After a few weeks of progress, it appears Summit County has taken a step back.
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As he does at his press briefing each Thursday, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has revealed the state's latest Public Health Advisory System for the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. And in doing so, he shared that after most recently being at Level 2 "orange," Summit County has returned to Level 3 "red."
According to Ohio's Public Advisory System, Level 3 indicates a "very high exposure and spread" of the coronavirus in that community.
"Summit Count is seeing, sadly, a sustained increase in emergency department visits for COVID-like illness. That is an early warning sign," DeWine said. "On August 20, the county had an average of five visits per day to the emergency department. That number increased to an average on nine visits per day by August 27. The county has also seen a sustained increase in hospitalizations. Admission numbers have increased from two admissions on August 22 to seven on August 29. Outbreaks have been associated with workplaces and a fraternal club."
DeWine went on to discuss the fraternal club outbreak, without identifying the specific club.
"Like many of the clubs that are found throughout our state, non-profit, has a restaurant, has a bar. In this case, two people visited the club while they were contagious. Since then, employees, other members and family members got the virus. There's no indication that the people who came knew that they were contagious. People don't most of the time know that. Two people came and visited and then we saw other members and family members get the virus. A total of 12 people tested positive. Only one of the people had symptoms.
"The cases range in age from 29-81. And four people have been hospitalized, two are seriously ill. We don't share these stories to make people feel bad. This is just a horrible, horrible situation."