The new red counties in the state include Ashland, Delaware, Pike, Scioto and Stark. Four others remained there from the previous week: Butler, Montgomery, Mercer, and Putnam.
The color-coded system is based on seven data indicators: New cases by capita, sustained increase in new cases, proportion of cases not in a congregate setting, sustained increase in emergency department visits for COVID-like illness, sustained increase in outpatient visits for COVID-like illness, sustained increase in new COVID hospital admissions, and Intensive Care Unit (ICU) bed occupancy.
From Sept. 3 through Sept. 24, the ODH said that Butler County consistently met the criteria in three of the seven indicators: new cases by capita, proportion of cases not in a congregate setting and sustained increase in outpatient visits.
The county is flagged for cases per capita if more than 50 cases per 100,000 residents are reported over the last two weeks. In Butler County, that number was 131.29 in the latest update on Thursday, which was a drop from 219.51 three weeks earlier, when the county moved back up from Level 2 to the more severe Level 3.
The non-congregate cases indicator counts a county on the wrong side of safe if proportion of cases that are not in a congregate setting goes over 50% in at least one of the last three weeks. In Thursday’s update, Butler County was at 70%, which means a majority of new cases are not coming from large gatherings.
The outpatient visits indicator tracks how much people are going to seek care for coronavirus are positive foe COVID-19. This indicator is flagged if there is an increasing trend of at least five consecutive days in the number. That remains the case in Butler County.
Butler County has reported 6,039total COVID-19 cases, according to the Butler County General Health District’s latest statistics. Of those, at least 1,437 have been Miami University students. There also have been at least 106 deaths in the county.
Red Level 3 means means older Ohioans and those with medical conditions associated with COVID-19 complications should consider avoiding unnecessary contact with others, such as social gatherings, said Dan Tierney, spokesman for the governor’s office.
More than 60 percent of Ohioans are considered high-risk based on Centers for Disease Control guidance. At Level 4, the advisory would change to encourage an end to non-essential trips from the home.
There are 147,744 confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 in Ohio and 4,715 confirmed and probable COVID-19 deaths. A total of 15,051 people have been hospitalized, including 3,228 admissions to intensive care units.
For the last four weeks, the county never met the criteria in three other indicators and hasn’t met sustained increase in new cases the last two weeks.
Butler County’s new cases dropped this week to 503 after consecutive weekly reports of 699, 910 and 841, according to the ODH. The county health department has pointed toward students returning to Miami University as a reason for the spike earlier this month.
As for cases not in a congregate setting, Butler recorded 70 percent this week, the second highest the last four weeks. On Sept. 10, the county had 100 percent and 57 percent on Sept. 17 and 50 percent on Sept. 3.
The percentage of sustained increase in outpatient visits for COVID-like illness has ranged from 54 percent to 74 percent in Butler County.
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