CEDARVILLE, Ohio — When Ohio Governor Mike DeWine unveiled the state's latest Public Health Advisory System last week, it showed that seven Northeast Ohio counties had reached a Level 4 'purple' coronavirus (COVID-19) risk level -- the highest level in the system.
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And while only two counties -- Lake County and Lorain County -- have since dropped to Level 3 'red,' as of Thursday, Medina County, Portage County, Richland County, Stark County and Summit County each remain at Level 4 'purple,' which denotes "severe exposure and spread" of the coronavirus.
Those five Northeast Ohio counties account for the only Level 4 'purple' counties in the state. Meanwhile, Cuyahoga County has dropped off the watch list for Level 4, but remains at Level 3, which denotes "very high exposure and spread" of the coronavirus. Ashland County has been added to the watch list, which means that it currently meets six of the seven indicators, but has yet to do so for two consecutive weeks.
To reach Level 4, a county must meet six of the seven necessary indicators for two consecutive weeks. In October, DeWine said that he wouldn't introduce additional restrictions for counties that reach Level 4, as he did when he initially implemented a mask mandate for counties that reached Level 3. A statewide mask mandate regardless of coronavirus risk level has since been implemented.
"We're not going to issue additional orders," DeWine said at a press briefing on Oct. 28. "It's just one more piece of information. Going into purple is a signal that potentially we have a hospital problem."
On Thursday, Ohio reported 11,738 new coronavirus cases -- its fourth-highest single-day total since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. You can watch the entirety of Gov. DeWine's press briefing in the video below.