Ohio’s neighbors Kentucky and Pennsylvania remained on the advisory, with coronavirus positivity rates well over the 15% benchmark used by the state health department to create the advisory.
As of Jan. 13, the travel advisory includes Idaho (48.1%), Pennsylvania (40.3%), Alabama (40.3%), Iowa (40%), Kansas (38.2%), South Dakota (33.3%), Kentucky (26%), Oklahoma (23.2%), Georgia (23%), Utah (21%), Texas (21%), Arkansas (20%), Tennessee (20%), Ohio (17%), Nevada (17%), Arizona (16.4%), Missouri (16.2%), South Carolina (16%) and Virginia (15.2%).
The Ohio Department of Health uses state-level aggregate data from The COVID Tracking Project to determine the list. Testing irregularities in Wyoming and Mississippi prevented ODH from determining a positivity rate.
The positivity rate can indicate how much coronavirus in a state or community, which is why the state health department is recommending against travel to areas with high positivity rate.
Anyone returning to Ohio after leaving states on the advisory should self-quarantine for 14 days after leaving those areas.
They should also monitor themselves for any symptoms, including fever, coughing, difficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion, runny nose, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea.
If symptoms develop, call your health care provider.
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