CLEVELAND — City of Cleveland officials are set to hold a press conference Thursday regarding the community's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The state of Ohio has seen an uptick in coronavirus cases in recent weeks. Cleveland is no exception, with more than 6,200 confirmed cases since March and 148 deaths.
As a whole, Cuyahoga County is in danger of reaching a Level 4 "purple" alert on the state's COVID-19 advisory system, which would indicate "severe exposure and spread" and lead to a recommendation that all non-essential activity outside the home be avoided. Gov. Mike DeWine will hold his own press briefing this afternoon and announce whether or not the county's risk assessment has risen.
Mayor Frank G. Jackson isn't quite sure what could change if the city moves to Level 4, adding he would reassess depending on what the latest statistics show. He did say most of the increase is related to small gatherings of less than 300 people, many coming from surrounding suburbs.
"This city's a wide open city, and its a wide open state," he said. Much of our efforts that we've enforced here may not be enforced in other places."
Jackson was joined by Chief of Prevention, Intervention & Opportunity for Youth and Young Adults Tracy Martin-Thompson, Interim Director of Public Health Brian Kimball and Director of Human Resources Nycole West for the briefing. They also be discussed a restructuring of the city's department of public health.
