COLUMBUS, Ohio — As expected, Gov. Mike DeWine has announced that Ohio's K-12 schools will be required to come up with a system to report cases of COVID-19.
During his Thursday press briefing, DeWine stated that he will soon be issuing an order that requires schools to establish a reporting mechanism for parents to report coronavirus cases. After learning of a student or staff member who tests positive, K-12 schools must report that case to the local health department as quickly as possible.
The governor says schools should make information about a positive case publicly available and should notify parents/guardians in writing about the case, including as much information as possible without disclosing protected health information.
The local health department will then notify the Ohio Department of Health on a weekly basis about newly reported cases in schools, as well as the cumulative casa data for students/teachers.
DeWine says the data will be posted every Wednesday at coronavirus.ohio.gov.
“We’ve been discussing this, and I’ve tasked my team with coming up with a consistent state plan,” DeWine said during his Tuesday coronavirus briefing. “In other words, the way these are reported to the public should be – whether it’s in Belmont County or Huron County or Hamilton County – it should be the same way. So we will have a procedure to outline for you on Thursday. Frankly, I felt it needs to be consistent. … It needs to be reported to the health department, obviously. But it needs to be, also in real time, reported to parents so that parents have an idea what’s going on. And then it needs to be also reported to the news media.”