Keep up with regular news updates regarding Columbus and Ohio’s response to COVID-19 here.
The Numbers
COVID-19 cases — As of Tuesday, Sept. 1, 16,926 cases and 452 deaths from COVID-19 have been reported or are probable in Columbus and Worthington. Countywide, 23,144 cases and 611 deaths from COVID-19 have been reported by Columbus Public Health and Franklin County Public Health.
Statewide, 124,610 cases and 4,165 deaths have been confirmed or are probable, as reported by the Ohio Department of Health, with 104,024 presumed recovered.
More Updates
Franklin County Public Health Advisory Decreased to Level 2: As of Thursday, Aug. 27, Franklin County’s Public Health Advisory Level has decreased. The change is due to a drop in new cases per capita. Where cases per 100K people showed a rate well over 100, indicating a high incidence rate, last week that number dropped below the threshold required for Level 3 Advisory. See Franklin County’s data here.
School Case Reporting — Last week, Gov. DeWine talked about issuing an order for schools to report COVID-19 cases. That order is expected to be complete this week and will be posted on the coronavirus.ohio.gov website. The order will ensure parents and members of the public are notified of positive COVID-19 cases in their child’s school or their local district.
High Case Numbers Attributed to Return to School — In his Coronavirus Update press briefing on Tuesday, Governor Mike DeWine noted that Tuesday’s state case numbers are the highest seen since the end of July. He said the state believes this is in part due to students’ return to schools and universities.
Broadband Connectivity Funding — In July, the K-12 Broadband Connectivity Grant was announced in an effort to allocate CARES Act funding towards helping students attain internet access. 951 schools were awarded grants. By the end of this week, qualifying schools will receive notifications of their final award.
Long-Term Care Testing Takes Pause — Governor DeWine announced Thursday that the state would be pausing its work to test residents and staff at assisted living facilities through saliva testing because of the inconsistencies in test results. The Ohio Department of Health will investigate the issue to determine if the problem is due to the test kits, the labs or an issue along the test collection process.
For more information on COVID-19 in Ohio, visit coronavirus.ohio.gov or call 1-833-4-ASK-ODH.