Franklin County approaching level 4 under Ohio’s new COVID-19 Health Advisory System

COLUMBUS (WCMH) — Franklin County is currently sitting in level 3 (Red) under Ohio Governor Mike DeWine’s new Public Health Advisory System, but it is the only county in the state that is approaching Level 4 (Purple).  

During his news conference Thursday, DeWine unveiled a 4-tier new alert system, that provides guidelines on the severity of the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus in each county of the state. 

Currently, Franklin County is sitting at Level 3, which is the second most severe level, but according to DeWine, it is approaching Level 4 because the county has reached 5 of the 7 indicators. If the county reaches 6 of the 7, it’ll be placed under the Level 4 tier. 

A Level 4 means there is a severe exposure and spread of the coronavirus in the community. Under this level community members must only travel when necessary, and stay home as much as possible, while adhering to the guidelines provided in the other three levels. 

“They are on our ‘Watch List’ because growth in the number of new cases, 1,500 in the past two weeks, is explosive, with much of that growth occurring in the last seven days,” said DeWine.

On Thursday, Columbus Public Health announced there have been 7,682 cases of COVID-19 in the district.

Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther also announced that he will be signing an executive order Friday, that will require people in the city to have facial coverings while in public places.   

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