DeWine outlines college requirements for Fall, updates Franklin County’s COVID-19 level

Gov. Mike DeWine started off his weekly COVID-19 update, which will take place once a week on Thursdays moving forward, outlining a plan to reopen Ohio colleges and updates to the COVID-19 warning levels for each Ohio county.

Here were some of the major talking points as they pertain to Columbus residents:

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DeWine outlined the minimum requirements for the 167 institutions of higher learning in Ohio to reopen in the fall. They include:
- Strict testing tailored toward their particular campus and community.
- Isolation of those showing symptoms
- Designated housing for relocating those requiring isolation
- You can visit coronavirus.ohio.gov for a full list of minimum operating standards and best practices for further enhancing those standards
- DeWine is asking for $200 million in CARES Act funds toward institutions of higher learning in Ohio.
- “Colleges and universities really drive our economy,” DeWine said.
Franklin County, which was on the watchlist approaching Level 4 last week, was taken off the watchlist on Thursday.
Franklin County was taken off of the watchlist because it saw a decrease in the number of residents being admitted to the hospital.
The county still remains at Level 3 due to the following factors:
- There have been 2,200 cases within the last 14 days, which means that the county exceeds the high incidence category for COVID-19 as defined by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
- COVID-19 cases have increased from an average of 94 cases per day on June 16 up to 175 cases per day on July 2.
- More residents have been seeking medical care, up from 171 to 302 outpatient visits per day.
- COVID-19 emergency room visits have increased from an average of 27 ER visits on June 16 up to 56 ER visits on July 4.
Franklin County is still considered at Level 3 because they are still experiencing four to five COVID-19 indicators and its category can’t improve unless it sees a decline for two consecutive reporting periods.
Hamilton, Butler, and Cuyahoga counties were upgraded to approaching Level 4 on Thursday.

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