By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
As schools and sports return this fall, a rise in COVID-19 cases is inevitable, Wood County officials were told during a conference call on the coronavirus this morning.
“We will see an increase in cases,” said Ben Batey, former county health commissioner and current chief health officer at BGSU.
“I know there’s a lot of anxiety with schools opening back up,” he said.
Local residents are hoping for some sense of normalcy as students return to school and sports teams compete, Batey said. But along with that normalcy will come more COVID.
“We’re really watching this as we enter the fall season,” he said.
As of Monday, Wood County had reached 1,345 COVID-19 cases since March. That was an increase of 46 cases over the weekend. As of Monday, there were 87 active cases, an increase of 13 over the weekend.
Three more COVID deaths occurred over the weekend, bringing the total to 67 in the county since March.
The cases, “just keep rolling up,” Batey said.
But as of today, Wood County remains at Level 2 (Orange) – and Batey is hoping the numbers don’t cause it to creep up to Level 3 (Red.)
Recently, the county is finding increases in entire households testing positive for the virus.
“That’s what we’re starting to see across the community,” Batey said. As with all cases, once a positive test is reported, the health department starts with contact tracing.
“Right away, the team jumps into action,” he said.
People are asked to identify people outside the home who they have been closer than 6 feet with for more than 15 minutes. “Red flags” are raised if a person with COVID works at a high exposure location such as a nursing home or restaurant, Batey said.
Also during the call this morning with county officials:
- Wood County Emergency Management Agency Director Jeff Klein said his office has some personal protective equipment available, including kits for businesses from the economic development office.
- Klein repeated his request that people seek out trustworthy sources of information regarding COVID, rather than relying on rumors. “Some of this information is getting twisted,” he said.
- New county health commissioner Ben Robison, who starts his position on Wednesday, said he will be making contact with county officials.
- Batey talked about the need to remind residents to not get complacent about protective measures against COVID-19. “That continual message is going to be important,” he said.
