CLEVELAND — There appears to finally be some good news on the COVID-19 front in Northeast Ohio. As case numbers are declining across the state, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that nearly every local county is in the 'low' community level.
The CDC reports that the only three counties in Northeast Ohio currently at medium are Erie, Mahoning, and Trumbull counties. The CDC still says people in medium areas should think about possibly wearing coverings or avoiding crowded areas if they are immunocompromised.
Those residents in the low category are advised to get tested if they have symptoms and to wear a mask if they have symptoms, a positive test, or exposure to someone with COVID-19.
The CDC's updated guidance takes new and active hospitalizations into account, and become more stringent of any county has reported at least 200 new COVID cases per 100,000 citizens over the previous week.
Cuyahoga County reports 162.18 new cases per 100,000 citizens with 9.8 hospital admissions per 100K. (20.0 is needed for a 'high' community level when the case figure is below 200). Cuyahoga County had been in the high level for two weeks before being downgraded to medium last week.
The CDC's new reporting comes as the Ohio Department of Health announced that the state had just over 16,000 new cases of COVID-19 in the past week, a decrease of about 2,000 from the previous seven days.
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