Fourth Ohioan testing positive for coronavirus from Stark County, 1st case of community spread: ODH update

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CLEVELAND, Ohio — A 53-year-old man from Stark County is the fourth Ohioan who has tested positive for the coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, it was announced Wednesday.

This is the first case of community spread in Ohio, which means the person had not traveled to an infected area, Gov. Mike DeWine stated during a press conference Wednesday.

The Stark County man has no history of travel outside the U.S. and no known contact with anyone who may have COVID-19, DeWine said. This patient is currently at Mercy Medical Center in Canton.

One of the four confirmed patients may have been exposed to possibly 100 others, DeWine said. He did not say which patient he was referring to.

The Ohio Department of Health’s website listed 24 Ohioans currently being tested. This is the highest number of people in the state being tested for the respiratory illness since its outbreak nearly a month ago.

The Ohio Department of Health began testing for COVID-19 on Saturday and has the capacity to test about 300-400 people. Other private companies, including LabCorp and Quest, also will be offering tests. Before that, only a handful of people had been tested and those tests were shipped to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Of the earlier confirmed cases, all three are in Cuyahoga County but none are in the city of Cleveland, health officials said. Two people were on a cruise in Egypt, and the other was at an American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference in Washington, D.C. All are aged 54-56. Two cases involve men, and the other case involves a woman.

All three people previously said to have COVID-19 are in isolation at their homes and under remote supervision by their health care providers, Cuyahoga County Health Commissioner Terry Allan said.

One of the three previous people who tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Ohio is a male employee of the Jewish Education Center of Cleveland, located in Cleveland Heights.

The number of Ohioans under public health supervision remains at 255. This figure reflects travelers referred to ODH for monitoring; the number includes travelers who have finished their self-monitoring home quarantine, health officials said.

The number of Ohioans who have tested negative for COVID-19 is 21, according to Wednesday’s update.

DeWine said he expects to issue an order on mass gatherings soon. “Maybe at some point may have to close the (K-12) schools; we are not there yet,” he said.

DeWine also said that a state order will be issued instructing nursing homes in Ohio to limit visitation to one person per day.

About the same time as DeWine’s press conference, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced it will award Ohio $15.6 million in support of COVID-19 response.

A state call center to answer questions regarding COVID-19 is open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. at 1-833-4-ASK-ODH (1-833-427-5634).

Summit County Public Health also has set up a call center to answer questions about the illness 8a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Call 330-926-5795.

COVID-19 is a respiratory illness with symptoms similar to those of the flu — fever, cough and shortness of breath — that has sickened thousands and killed more than 4,000 in China, according to the World Health Organization. There is not yet a vaccine for COVID-19, nor are there any medications approved to treat it, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

Latest COVID-19 statistics, as of 2 p.m. Wednesday:

Countries, territories and areas with confirmed cases: 110

U.S. jurisdictions reporting cases: 39 (includes the District of Columbia)

Total cases in U.S.: 938

Total deaths in U.S.: 29

Worldwide statistics are from the WHO, and U.S. numbers are from the CDC.

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