COLUMBUS, Ohio — Columbus Public Health and Franklin County Public Health on Friday lifted mask advisories issued in July as the county’s community level was downgraded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The advisories were issued on July 22 when Franklin County was moved to high according to the CDC’s community level data. The CDC downgraded the county to medium on Thursday.
The CDC dropped Franklin County down based on the case rate and hospital metrics. The current case rate for the county is 186 per 100,000 people and hospital admissions were a rate of 12 per 100,000 people with 4.1% of patients in hospital beds being diagnosed with COVID-19.
On Thursday, the Ohio Department of Health reported 24,067 new COVID-19 cases, 665 additional hospitalizations and 90 deaths in the past week.
Under medium community level for COVID-19, the CDC recommends residents stay up to date on vaccines and boosters, get tested if they have symptoms and wear a mask if they have symptoms, a positive test or exposure to someone with COVID-19.
If you have been exposed to COVID-19, it is recommended to wear a mask in public for 10 days and to test on the fifth day, regardless of vaccine or prior infection status.
Franklin County Public Health is strongly encouraging people who may be at higher risk for severe outcomes of COVID-19 - immunocompromised or unvaccinated – to continue to mask when in public.
Columbus Public Health is also reminding residents all COVID-19 vaccines and boosters are available on a walk-in basis Monday through Friday. For more information, click here.
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