CLEVELAND — Following the announcement that three people in Cuyahoga County have been confirmed to have Ohio's first cases of coronavirus, city of Cleveland and county officials held a briefing on Monday to give the latest information.
The news conference was scheduled to start at 3:00 p.m., but was delayed after Gov. Mike DeWine made the official announcement about the three confirmed cases. DeWine said all three patients are from Cuyahoga County and in their mid-50s earlier on Monday. Two of them are a married couple who were recently on a cruise on the Nile River and the third attended a conference in Washington D.C.
Cuyahoga County Health Director Terry Allen says none of the people with confirmed coronavirus cases in Ohio are currently hospitalized. All three, as well as six close contacts to the patients, have been quarantined at home. Seniors and people with chronic illnesses like heart disease and diabetes are believed to be the people most at risk.
Additionally, the Ohio Department of Health says five people in the state are being tested for possible exposure to the virus as of Monday.
Mayor Frank Jackson adds that no large events in the city are being canceled. This includes planned rallies by Democratic presidential candidates Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders on Tuesday, as well as the upcoming Mid-American Conference (MAC) and NCAA Basketball tournaments.
“We are working collaboratively with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), our local and state health and governmental officials, along with our partners the Cleveland Cavaliers and Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse regarding public safety for all our student-athletes, coaches and fans for this week’s MAC Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments. We are proceeding as planned with our tournament and currently moving forward as scheduled. As a reminder the CDC has encouraged traditional precautionary prevention measures and guidelines. We will continue to monitor this situation on a daily basis," the MAC said in a statement on Monday evening.
City and county leaders emphasize that if you have any questions about coronavirus, contact the Ohio Department of Health's call center at 1-833-4-ASK-ODH. You can also visit ODH's coronavirus page here.
Starting Monday, RTA is enhancing its cleaning program for all buses, trains, and paratransit vehicles. The plan calls for RTA staff to clean all touchable surfaces on board its vehicles with a cleaning agent recommended by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Buses and trains are being cleaned every 24 hours.
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Also, the Cleveland Orchestra has canceled several concerts that were set to take place overseas in the coming weeks.
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