COLUMBUS, Ohio — Franklin County dropped back down to Red Alert Level 3 after being in the purple for two weeks straight, according to the Ohio Department of Health’s update Thursday.
The four-level map system, established in July, tracks the level of spread in each county. Purple Alert Level 4 indicates the highest COVID-19 spread, whereas Yellow Alert Level 1 shows the lowest.
The county has the 12th-highest case rate in the state with 175 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people. It’s one of 45 counties that are in Red Alert Level 3, the lowest number in the last two months. Last week, 52 counties were in the red.
Pleased to see Franklin County downgraded to Red Alert Level 3. Let’s keep moving in the right direction by making sure you and your family and friends are vaccinated. The sooner we get people vaccinated, the sooner we can return to a sense of normalcy.
— Mysheika Roberts, MD, MPH (@DrMRoberts) April 29, 2021
Four counties are back down to yellow: Carroll, Gallia, Muskingum and Vinton.
Along with the drop in levels came a drop in cases this week. Ohio’s case rate now sits at 155.6 cases per 100,000 residents — a decrease for a second straight week. Gov. Mike DeWine said once the state reaches 50 cases per 100,000 residents, COVID-19 restrictions such as the mask mandate would be lifted. He hinted at a previous press conference that threshold requirement may change, and soon the state could lift mandates based off of vaccinations rather than cases.
Just three counties are below the 50 cases per 100,000 residents ratio: Gallia, Vinton and Noble. All of the counties with the highest case rates are in the northern half of the state, including Cuyahoga, Lucas and Erie counties.
The state reported reported 1,786 new coronavirus cases on Thursday and 1,200 people were hospitalized.
