As confirmed cases of the coronavirus continue to rise in the state, Ohio has warned its residents against traveling — to Ohio.
The Ohio Department of Health (ODH) added the state to its own list for the first time on Thursday after it reported positive testing rates of 15 percent or higher for COVID-19. The department is warning residents to quarantine for 14 days after traveling to the states on the list.
The ODH is currently recommending Ohio residents to stay at home except for necessary trips, wear masks and wash their hands frequently.
Top states on the list include Idaho, Iowa, South Dakota and Kansas, which have positivity rates of 49 percent, 43.4 percent, 41.4 percent and 40 percent, respectively. Ohio currently has a positivity rate of 15.4 percent, the department said, listing the COVID Tracking Project as its source.
The advisory list includes 13 other states besides Ohio.
Although the ODH said the advisory is “not a mandate,” Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said in a tweet on Thursday that it is recommended Ohio residents “stay home except for necessary trips for supplies.”
This is the first week since April where Ohio’s positivity for COVID-19 has increased above 15%. Ohio's travel advisory recommends Ohioans stay home except for necessary trips for supplies, as well as consistent mask-wearing and frequent hand washing. pic.twitter.com/uU2TJrRLve
— Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) December 3, 2020
“It is intended as guidance and is not a mandate — please consider the information here along with other factors (mode of transportation, lodging, activities, ability to social distance when traveling, personal health factors, etc.) when making travel decisions for yourself and your family,” the department said in its announcement.
Ohio has seen a recent spike in confirmed cases of the coronavirus, adding upwards of 7,000 new cases nearly every day since mid-November and seeing an uptick of 16.7 percent in the past seven days, according to data from the COVID Tracking Project. The state has more than 432,000 confirmed cases and 6,431 confirmed deaths from the coronavirus, the ODH reports.
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Jordyn Pair is a reporter with The Ohio Star. Follow her on Twitter at @JordynPair.
