CLEVELAND — Despite Cuyahoga County being lowered to the orange alert level in the Ohio Public Health Advisory System for COVID-19 risk, the Board of Health is still recommending a remote start to schools and the discontinuation of sports and extracurriculars during the remote learning period.
Moving to risk level 2/orange is “certainly welcome news and an indication that we are beginning to move in the right direction,” stated a county release. “We will continue to monitor our local trends and share information each week about COVID-19 activity in our community.
“Bearing in mind all of the information shared in this communication, we maintain our current recommendations under the current Risk Level 2 designation.” The original Cuyahoga County COVID-19 recommendations for K-12 were issued July 30.
The Board is monitoring the following factors in making its recommendations. They include sustaining at an orange alert level for multiple weeks:
Positivity Rates – A sustained decline in COVID-19 testing positivity rates below 5 percent
New Case Reports – A sustained decline in new cases, over a month period
State Public Health Advisory System – A risk rating of orange or 2, or below, over multiple weeks
COVID-19 testing capacity for children – “There is currently little to no testing available for those under the age of 18 which dramatically complicates our outbreak response in the school setting,” states the County release.
The County did allow leeway for school districts to make independent decisions, reasserting that “these are recommendations, not Board of Health Orders, designed to provide evidence-based guidance.”
You can watch Friday's press conference featuring members of the Cuyahoga County Board of Health and County Executive Armond Budish in the player below.
