Greene County moves up to high COVID risk level, citing holiday weekend spread

The CDC recommends people who are in a county with a high transmission risk to wear a mask indoors while in public and to stay up to date with coronavirus vaccines. Anyone with symptoms of the virus should get tested and people who are sick should stay home.

People who are immunocompromised or at risk for severe illness may want to take additional steps, such as wearing a mask or respirator that offers greater protection — like an N95 of KN95, avoid non-essential indoor activities in public, have a plan for rapid testing and talk to health care providers about different COVID treatments and any additional precautions they could take.

Greene County Public Health also encouraged people to continue frequent handwashing and to social distance when possible. Residents can order free at-home tests at http://www.covidtests.gov/ or pick up tests from the Greene County Public Library or during the Greene County Fair from July 31 through Aug. 6. Attendees should look for the mobile Greene County Public Health trailer.

Anyone who tests positive for the virus should report their test to a Public Health nurse by emailing cdrs@gcph.info.

The CDC determines a county’s COVID transmission level by looking at the number of new COVID admissions per 100,000 people in the last seven days, the percent of staffed inpatient beds occupied by coronavirus patients and new cases per 100,000 people in the last seven days.

Greene County is one of five counties in Ohio with a high COVID transmission rate. The other four are Ross, Pike, Scioto and Lawrence counties.

According to the CDC, the COVID community level for other counties in the Miami Valley are:

To learn more about CDC COVID-19 community levels, visit https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/science/community-levels.html. People can also reach out to Greene County Public Health at 937-374-5600 or covid19@gcph.info.