As cases of COVID-19 continue to increase in Franklin County and across the state, Columbus Public Health issued a mask advisory Friday, urging residents to wear masks indoors and in crowded places.
Franklin County Public Health also issued a mask advisory, said Communication Director Mitzi Kline
Columbus Public Health said in a news release it enacted the advisory due to the county being listed as a high level of transmission on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID-19 data tracker.
However, it is not a mask mandate, which Columbus Mayor Andrew J. Ginther dropped in March.
The CDC Community Transmission Level for Franklin County is high based on the county wide case rate and hospital metrics. The case rate in Franklin County is now 214 per 100,000, stated the release. New hospital admissions were 10.7 per 100,000 with 3.7% of patients in staffed in-patient beds confirmed with COVID-19. As of Monday, the positivity rate in Franklin County is 19.8%.
Other Greater Columbus counties that are seeing high community levels of transmission include Marion, Pickaway and Union counties. Community levels remain at a medium level for Delaware, Fairfield, Licking and Madison counties.
Other major cities in the state that are seeing high transmission levels include Dayton and Cincinnati. Levels in the Cleveland, Akron and Toledo areas are at medium.
“Protecting ourselves and our community from COVID-19 takes a multi-layered approach” Columbus Health Commissioner Dr. Mysheika Roberts said in the release. “The best way to protect yourself and your loved ones from hospitalization and death from COVID-19 is to get vaccinated and boosted. Wearing a mask and testing if you’re sick also will help slow down the spread.”
The news of the advisory comes as 26,610 COVID-19 cases were reported in Ohio in the past week. In contrast, the state was seeing just thousands of cases in late March and hovered above 10,000 beginning May. Those numbers are most likely to be higher due to at-home tests not being recorded.
Nearly half of all new reported COVID-19 cases in Ohio in recent weeks came from the BA.5 variant, according to state health department data, as the U.S. enters another wave of the pandemic.
“We are in a much different place than we were a year ago,” Dr. Joseph Gastaldo, an infectious disease expert at OhioHealth, told The Dispatch earlier this month. “Our vaccines are still providing a great layer of protection in keeping them out of the hospital and preventing them from dying.”
An upgrade to red triggers these recommendations from the CDC:
- Wear a well-fitting mask indoors in public, regardless of vaccination status (including in K-12 schools and other indoor community settings).
- If you are immunocompromised or high risk for severe disease: Wear a mask or respirator that provides you with greater protection; consider avoiding non-essential indoor activities in public where you could be exposed; talk to your healthcare provider about whether you need to take other precautions; have a plan for rapid testing if needed; talk to your healthcare provider about whether you are a candidate for treatments like oral antivirals, PrEP, and monoclonal antibodies.
- If you have household or social contact with someone at high risk for severe disease: Consider self-testing to detect infection before contact; consider wearing a mask when indoors with them.
- Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines and boosters.
- Maintain improved ventilation throughout indoor spaces when possible.
- Follow CDC recommendations for isolation and quarantine, including getting tested if you are exposed to COVID-19 or have symptoms of COVID-19.
More:New BA.5 variant now almost half, if not more, of new COVID-19 cases in Ohio
More:How to get a COVID-19 vaccine for children under 5 in the Columbus area
Micah Walker is the Dispatch trending reporter. Reach her at mwalker@dispatch.com or 740-251-7199. Follow her on Twitter @micah_walker701.
