Tag: Ohio Public Health Advisory System

DeWine Calls Late Press Conference to Announce ‘New Deal’ for COVID Restrictions

Jack Windsor

Republican Governor Mike DeWine offered Ohioans a new “deal” late Thursday, saying, “When Ohio gets down to 50 cases per 100,000 people for two weeks, all health orders in the state will come off.”

The announcement came in a specially called press briefing that started at 5:30 p.m., during which DeWine encouraged Ohioans to take the of the COVID vaccine and to stay the course with nonpharmacological interventions: masks, distancing, state orders that limit crowds and limits on long personal contact.

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Judge Throws Out Cincinnati Teachers Union Lawsuit to Halt In-Person Learning in Cincinnati Public Schools

Jack Windsor

The Cincinnati Federation of Teachers (CFT) filed an injunction in Hamilton County Municipal Court last Friday to stop Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS) from conducting in-person learning.

The union, which represents 3,000 teachers, claims classroom learning is unsafe until all teachers have received both rounds of the COVID vaccine.  

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Ohio Public Health Advisory System – Indicator Seven, ICU Occupancy

Jack Windsor

Sustained increase in ICU bed occupancy is the most relevant of the bunch comprising the Ohio Public Health Advisory System indicators because it measures overall ICU capacity and specifically looks at COVID patients in intensive care.

Ohio logged 2,092 COVID cases by onset date on October 15. One month later that number grew to 6,087 according to the Ohio COVID dashboard.  Despite the run-up in cases and a spike in hospitalizations – which have not correlated to a matching percentage of deaths (which continue to hold well below peaks from April) no county in Ohio has tripped indicator seven.

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DeWine Hits Ohio Circuit Again – Proclaims Red Wave

Jack Windsor

With just 15 days remaining before the 2020 presidential election, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine was delivering a stump speech on Monday – “there is a red tide going through Ohio.” However, DeWine wasn’t talking about, and stumping for, Republican President Donald J. Trump. Instead, he was campaigning for COVID.

DeWine was referring to the rising case numbers in rural areas and “just about everywhere,” in Ohio – which has led to counties throughout the state reaching code red on Ohio’s public health advisory system.

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Ohio Public Health Advisory System – Indicator Six: Hospitalizations

Jack Windsor

  This is the seventh story in an eight-part series on the Ohio Public Health Advisory System (OPHAS). OPHAS is a tool created to supplement the state’s reporting on cases, hospitalizations and deaths. The color-coded map assigns each of Ohio’s 88 counties a color determined by how many of the seven indicators comprising OPHAS are triggered by each county. The colors: yellow (0-1 indicator), orange (2-3 indicators), red (4-5 indicators) and purple (6-7 indicators). The seven indicators making up OPHAS are: 1)-new cases per capita, 2)-sustained increase in new cases, 3)-proportion of cases not in a congregate setting, 4)-sustained increase in emergency department (ED) visits for COVID-like illness, 5)-sustained increase in outpatient visits for COVID-like illness, 6)-sustained increase in new COVID hospital admissions, 7)-intensive care unit (ICU) bed occupancy. Indicator 6, sustained increase in new COVID hospitalizations, is flagged if there is an increasing trend of at least 5 consecutive days in the number of new hospitalizations due to COVID over the last 3 weeks. According to the Ohio COVID website, indicator six is an “important indicator of hospital burden and disease severity.” However, the measure does not give respect to the population size of the county, it simply flags…

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Ohio’s Advisory System Counts COVID-like ER Visits

Jack Windsor

This is the sixth story in and eight-part series on the Ohio Public Health Advisory System (OPHAS). The system assigns one of four colors to each of Ohio’s 88 counties based on the level of COVID exposure and spread.

OPHAS is a supplement to the numerous statewide COVID mandates and is supposed to be a data-driven framework that gives local leaders a tool for use in deciding local and county school, business and other public policies.

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Perspective on Ohio Governor DeWine’s Trip Around Ohio to Talk ‘COVID Spread’

Jack Windsor

Ohio Republican Governor Mike DeWine made his rounds in Ohio on Friday – among other spots, stopping near Toledo and Youngstown to talk about COVID “spread.”

The Ohio Star covered one of the briefings, during which DeWine said if Ohioans don’t mask, distance and follow mandates then schools and colleges will inevitably go remote and businesses will likely shutter because people will be afraid.

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Richland County Is Close to Becoming the First Ohio County to Reach ‘Code Purple’ on Ohio’s Emergency Map

Jack Windsor

  Richland County is teetering on the verge of becoming the first Ohio county to reach code purple on the Ohio Public Health Advisory System (OPHAS). According to OPHAS,  purple means that the county is experiencing “severe exposure and spread” and residents are to leave home for only “supplies and services.” The Ohio Star discussed the county’s numbers with Richland Public Health Commissioner Sarah Humphrey. The health commissioner anticipates that five of seven indicators will be triggered – technically keeping Richland County in code red. During the phone interview with The Star, Humphries anticipates that Richland County will trigger indicators: 1,2,3,4 and 6 – and not triggering indicators 5 and 7. Whether staying in red or moving to purple matters from a policy perspective is now in question. During a press conference on Tuesday, Governor Mike DeWine said “going purple has no consequences or sanctions from the state of Ohio. And that’s the same way as being red.” Consequently, Humphrey said, “Knowing that he will give some latitude will give us some workarounds. Let’s see how we can continue in-person learning.” “Given what the governor said today during the press conference – businesses, schools, everyone can stay open. Richland County…

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Ohio Public Health Advisory System: Indicator Five – Outpatient Visits for COVID-like Illness

Jack Windsor

OPHAS has seven indicators and each of Ohio’s 88 counties is assigned a color based on the number of indicators that are triggered.

Indicator five measures the sustained increase in outpatient visits for COVID-like illness.

According to the state website, the indicator “provides information on the health care seeking behavior of the population and a sense of how concerned residents are about their current health status and the virus.”

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New CDC Admission Could Slash Ohio’s Death Toll

Jack Windsor

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Weekly Index disclosed “[F]or 6% of deaths, COVID-19 was the only cause mentioned.”

That means of the 183,000 U.S. deaths attributed to COVID as of the release of this article that 10,980 people died from COVID.  The remaining 172,000-plus deaths occurred with COVID.

In a text exchange with Dan Tierney, Press Secretary for Governor Mike DeWine, The Ohio Star asked Tierney if Ohio distinguishes “between someone who dies from the virus and someone who dies with the virus.”

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Ohio Public Health Advisory System – New Cases Per Capita

Jack Windsor

This is the second story in an eight-part series on the Ohio Public Health Advisory System

Early in the battle with COVID Ohioans were implored to heed recommended measures from Republican Governor Mike DeWine and Ohio Department of Health Director Amy Acton to “flatten the curve and ramp hospital capacity.”

Experts displayed epidemiological curves showing as many as 62,000 new cases a day, while county and local health departments received epidemiological reports highlighting the projected death toll on each age group within the locale or county.

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