The purple Level 4 means there is" severe exposure and spread" of COVID-19. Since the state launched the advisory system in early July, no county has reached the highest level on the color-coded scale.
However, the state does not impose further restrictions on counties based on the alert level. The governor said the purple level 4 guidance is to stay home except for necessary travel to get supplies and services.
Today, we have an alarming number of counties that are red—38, which is close to half the state. This is an increase from 29 red counties last week. We also have three counties that are now on the watch list: Clark, Cuyahoga and Hamilton counties. pic.twitter.com/FRVjd4trbF
— Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) October 22, 2020
Clark, Cuyahoga and Hamilton counties are on a watch list because they already meet the threshold for Level 4 now. The counties that meet six of seven indicators again next week would be moved up to purple Level 4.
The seven indicators measured are: new cases per 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 bed occupancy.
DeWine said it’s “alarming” that 38 of Ohio’s 88 counties are in the red alert level 3, which he said was “close to half the state” in a Thursday post on his Twitter account.
“This is an increase from 29 red counties last week,” he said during his afternoon update on the coronavirus situation.
Ohio’s cases are mostly due to community spread, and DeWine said Thursday it’s time for people to take the pandemic seriously and to follow all of the health guidelines such as wearing masks, social distancing, frequent handwashing and avoiding gatherings.
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