Coronavirus: Only one area county designated as red in state advisory system

All but one area county are no longer red on Ohio’s Public Health Advisory System, meaning they no longer are considered to have “very high exposure and spread” of the coronavirus, data from the Ohio Department of Health shows.

Butler, Clark, Darke, Greene, Montgomery and Warren counties are all currently at the orange Level 2 advisory, which indicates “increased exposure and spread” of the coronavirus.

Miami and Preble counties both stand at the lowest level of advisory, the yellow Level 1, which indicates “active exposure and spread.”

The remaining Level 3, or red, county in the area is Champaign County, which was flagged as having “High Incidence” of new coronavirus cases.

Counties with high incidence can’t be downgraded below a red advisory.

The Ohio Public Health Advisory System was introduced in July 2020 to help assess the severity of coronavirus spread in each county, rating them on seven indicators like new cases per capita and sustained increases in emergency room visits for the virus.

At Level 1, or yellow, counties meet one or fewer indicators. Orange, or Level 2, means the county meets two or three indicators and red, or Level 3, counties meet four or five indicators.

Champaign County currently only meets two of the seven indicators of heightened coronavirus spread, according to the ODH.

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