By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Area residents may be itching to have late summer or fall gatherings. But public health officials are advising them to resist that urge.
As of today, Wood County has 153 active COVID cases in the county, which is 18 more than on Monday. Active cases include Wood County residents who are being monitored by the health department according to state and federal isolation criteria.
“That number fluctuates daily,” Ben Batey, former Wood County health commissioner, said Tuesday during the monthly phone update with elected officials in the county.
Batey, who is now chief health officer at BGSU, said public health officials are watching the numbers.
“That has drastically trended upwards,” Batey said about the active case numbers, which averaged about 10 a day a few months ago.
Batey predicted more orders to be issued to Gov. Mike DeWine soon.
Just today, DeWine announced that all K-12 students will be ordered to wear masks at school this fall.
DeWine is also trying to prevent outbreaks by ordering bars and restaurants to stop selling alcohol at 10 p.m., and close by 11 p.m. The rationale, Batey said, is that crowded bars, with people shoulder-to-shoulder, shouting over loud music, open until 2 a.m., are ripe for COVID transmission.
The question is, “do these instructions help us to turn the tide?” Batey said.
Wood County Hospital continues to maintain capacity for COVID patients.
“They have a handful of cases here and there,” Batey said.
Wood County is currently at Level Orange ranking, after a couple weeks at the more critical Level Red.
“It will be interesting to see what this week holds,” he said, of the county rankings which are updated by the state every Thursday. The standards have changed, Batey said, with any county that has 100 or more active cases per 100,000 population automatically going to Level Red.
Batey talked about the planning by school districts for the fall.
“We’re in a holding pattern,” he said.
Batey acknowledged the varied plans by school districts – planning all in-person classes, all online classes, or blends of both.
“We’re working with each school district,” he said, noting that larger districts have different issues than smaller districts.
The Wood County Health Department is receiving calls from county residents who want to plan events for the fall. Batey said he expects new guidance to come soon from the state. But as it is now – no more than 10 people can gather – with a few exceptions like church and wedding receptions.
Concerts, festivals and fairs (except junior fairs) are still not allowed, he said.
Also during the tele-meeting, Wood County Emergency Management Agency Director Jeff Klein said his office has several mask and hand sanitizer kits available. He reminded that people should ask for the kits if they can’t find the items elsewhere.
