Coronavirus: Franklin County first in Ohio to go to purple Level 4

Franklin County is the first in Ohio moved to a purple Level 4 alert status for “severe exposure and spread.”

It is the highest level of the state’s public health advisory system. Last week, Franklin County was one of two counties on the level 4 watch list.

The entire Miami Valley and southwest Ohio is red, or level 3. There are no yellow, or level 1, counties left in the state.

The Ohio Department of Health created seven indicators to determine alert levels, including new cases per capita, proportion of cases not in congregate settings, sustained increases in new cases, emergency department visits, outpatient visits and hospital admissions as well as ICU bed capacity.

As of Wednesday, Ohio has reported 318,828 total cases of coronavirus. Virus data was updated several hours late Wednesday, with the Ohio Department of Health noting that the day’s data was incomplete with thousands of reports pending review.

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