Face masks will be required in public throughout Summit County beginning Friday at 6:00 p.m. The county was moved up to level red Thursday afternoon on Ohio’s coronavirus risk level map.
Summit County Public Health Commissioner Donna Skoda says the rating system is based on seven indicators including the number of cases reported, hospitalizations and contact tracing.
“We received notice that we now have a three-fold increase in our outpatient visits which is another of the indicators.”
Skoda says the county is not seeing a surge of cases in congregate settings like nursing homes, but she is concerned that could happen when visitation resumes July 20.
There are now 12 counties at level red including Lorain, Trumbull and Cuyahoga.
The Ohio Department of Health is indicating that Cuyahoga is approaching being moved to the top risk level, purple.
The risk level in one county, Huron, decreased.
