The Tuscarawas County Health Department issued the following statement and information this week.

“With continued actions by all of us to follow the safety protocols, we can make a positive difference in preventing the spread of COVID-19 in our community. We know you are likely getting weary as so many of us are, but we encourage you to keep moving forward. Please know that we truly are in this together, and we remain committed to sharing accurate and timely information with you along the way. We will continue to be here for you.

For the first time, Tuscarawas County is now at the Level 3/Red status designation in the Ohio Public Health Advisory System. Also, the county has been designated as a “high incidence” county. You can find more details about the indicators in the e-newsletter here.

The Ohio Department of Health updated the alert map Thursday afternoon during Governor DeWine’s news conference. Of the updated map, Governor DeWine said, “We now only have four counties that are yellow. This is the highest number of red counties and the lowest number of yellow counties to date. That means that 74% of Ohioans are living in a red county. Only 1% are living in a yellow county.”

The Governor announced the following about Tuscarawas County, “(Tuscarawas County) exceeds the CDC’s threshold for high incidence and is seeing sustained increases in new cases, outpatient visits, and hospital admissions. Local health department officials report that they had a record number of cases—41—reported on Monday. Twenty-two residents are hospitalized and at least three are on ventilators. Spread continues in family and in the community—particularly through social gatherings.” (Please note that our number of hospitalized residents is at 25 today.)

The majority of Tuscarawas County cases continue to be from community spread with a small percentage in congregate settings (long-term care facilities). Let’s continue to follow the safety measures to social distance, stay home when sick, wear masks, and avoid large gatherings to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the community. Thank you very much for your help and support.

Below are additional important takeaways from this past week:

Travel Advisory Update (U.S. Positivity Map attached): Based on new positivity rates, the Ohio Department of Health encourages Ohioans to avoid travel to the states marked in yellow on the map (South Dakota, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Alabama, and Utah). The states of Mississippi, Nevada, and Wyoming are shaded gray this week on the Travel Advisory Map. These states are showing reporting irregularities with the data for total tests reported in the past week. As such, the positivity rates cannot be calculated for these states for this week. Anyone entering Ohio after travel to these states is asked to self-quarantine for 14 days. This advisory is intended for both leisure and business travel and should be heeded by both Ohioans and out-of-state travelers.

Infection Rate Graph & Cumalitive Case Trends Graph: Below is the Tuscarawas County active infection rate graph by township as of 10/22/2020. Also, please find the cumulative case trend graph which is current through 10/21/2020.

Local School Data: As always, the Tuscarawas County Health Department is committed to remaining transparent and providing accurate and timely communication to the public. We share local school case numbers on a weekly basis after our staff reports the required data to the Ohio Department of Health. Cases are shared by school district name only, and not by school building name or grade level, to help protect patient privacy. School posts are listed on our website’s COVID-19 page at www.tchdnow.org and click on the COVID-19 tab at the top of the home page.

Sad News to Share: We are greatly saddened to let you know that we have now reached 27 deaths (as of about 3 pm today) in our community related to COVID-19. Our thoughts and condolences go out to the loved ones of these individuals who have passed away over this past week: a 59-year-old male, a 77-year-old female, two 92-year-old females, an 83-year-old female, and a 72-year-old male. This information was made available through joint statements by Vickie Ionno, New Philadelphia City Health Commissioner, and Katie Seward, Tuscarawas County Health Commissioner.

Help is Available: We are living in hard times for many people these days. If you need support, Ohio offers a free COVID-19 Careline that is available 24/7 to help.

We trust that you are doing what you can to help your family, your friends, and our community stay safe. Thanks so much for your continued support. We will get through these challenging times together. Have a good weekend!”

In good health,

Your TCHD Operations Center Team