Source: NurPhoto / Getty
Some major news has been announced in regards to Ohio’s recent progress on its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
One of the key visual elements is being retired by the Department of Health as health orders are coming to an end in the state on June 2 and more residents are getting vaccinated.
Ohio Department of Health (ODH) Director Stephanie McCloud, Chief Medical Officer Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff and Jeff Brown from the Department of Administrative Services came together to mention the end of the state’s Public Health Advisory System map.
It was a weekly feature during press conferences and social media, showing how COVID-19 was spreading through and affecting residents and visitors in 88 counties.
From WJW Fox 8 News Cleveland:
The system was used to determine the exposure and spread of the virus in all Ohio counties.
It was based on the following factors: new cases per capita, sustained increase in new cases, proportion of cases that are not in congregate settings, sustained increase in COVID-19-related emergency room visits, sustained increase in COVID-19 outpatient visits including telehealth, sustained increase in COVID-19 hospital admissions and intensive care unit occupancy.
To refresh your memory, here is what the map looked like from a tweet that was posted on Dec. 17, 2020:
So why is the Advisory System map, which detected how severe the pandemic was from the least severe (Level 1 Yellow) to the most severe (Level 4 Purple) with two other levels (2 Orange and 3 Red) in between, being retired?
Reasons are due to “the availability of vaccines and the ending of pandemic health orders” come early next month.
That’s not to say there won’t ever be another health alert in Ohio as officials in the Department of Health are open and not opposed to creating a new system when it is appropriate.
For now, we bid a fond farewell the color-coded map that had dominated the state for quite a while.
Click here to read more.
Article Courtesy of WJW Fox 8 News Cleveland
First Picture Courtesy of NurPhoto and Getty Images
Tweet and Third Picture Courtesy of Twitter
LOCAL NEWS: Say Goodbye to the Ohio Public Health Advisory System Map was originally published on wzakcleveland.com
