After spending two weeks at Orange, two weeks in Red, and one week in Yellow in the Ohio Health Advisory Alert System for COVID-19, Richland County has moved to Orange once again (as of August 6, 2020). The Level 2 warning indicates increased exposure and spread of COVID-19 and raises the level of concern for Richland County.
Richland County triggered two of the indicators in the Alert System: Cases per Capita and Proportion of Cases in non-congregate settings.
Richland Public Health as well the Governor’s Office and Ohio Department of Health continue to encourage all Richland County residents to limit activities as much as possible and follow all current health orders.
Level 1 health orders are as follows:
- Conduct a daily health/symptom self-evaluation and stay at home if symptomatic.**
- Maintain social distancing of at least 6 feet from non-household members.
- Wear face coverings in public, especially when social distancing is difficult to maintain.
- Increase caution when interacting with others not practicing social distancing or wearing face covers.
- Avoid traveling to high-risk areas.
- Follow good hygiene standards, including:
- Wash hands frequently with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.
- Use hand sanitizer frequently.
- Avoid touching your face.
- Cover coughs or sneezes (e.g., into a tissue, or elbow).
- Symptom self-evaluation monitoring.
Level 2 health orders are all of the above and include:
- Avoid contact with anyone who is considered high-risk.
- High-risk individuals should take extra care to follow precautions.
- Decrease in-person interactions outside household.
- Seek medical care as needed, but limit or avoid unnecessary visits to hospitals, nursing homes, and residential care facilities to see others as much as possible.
**Per CDC, symptoms include fever or chills, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, new loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, and diarrhea. This list of symptoms can change as more is learned about COVID-19, and CDC updates this list on its website at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/symptoms.html.
Facial coverings continue to be mandated in the entire state. This includes when in any indoor location that is not a residence; Outdoors and unable to consistently maintain a distance of six feet or more from individuals who are not members of their household; waiting for, riding, driving or operating public transportation, a taxi, a private car service or ride sharing vehicle. This does not apply to vehicles engaged in direct travel through a county that does not stop in that county. (See this link About Cloth Face Coverings)