Coronavirus Pandemic: What you need to know Thursday

Gov. Mike DeWine tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of greeting President Donald Trump at an event in Northeast Ohio Thursday.

>>RELATED: Gov. DeWine tests positive for COVID-19

DeWine has no symptoms at this time, according to a spokesperson for the governor’s office.

Things you should know today, Thursday:

If you’re entering Ohio after travel to states reporting positive testing rates of 15% or higher for COVID-19, you are advised to self-quarantine for 14 days.

Positivity rate is an indicator of how much COVID-19 there is in a community, and the Ohio Department of Health is recommending against travel to those states with high positivity. This advisory is intended for both leisure and business travel, and should be heeded by both Ohioans and out-of-state travelers.

The list of states will be updated every week. Based on a 7-day rolling average of positivity rates of Aug. 5, the affected states are Mississippi (25.8%), Alabama (19.9%), Nevada (19.0%) Florida (18.2%) Arizona (18.1%) and Idaho (17.5%)

Gov. Mike DeWine’s briefing on the state’s response to the pandemic has been rescheduled for Friday at 2 p.m.

The Ohio Department of Health is to issue a health order requiring that K-12 children wear face coverings while at school. The new mandate comes after the Ohio Children’s Hospital Association and American Academy of Pediatrics Ohio Chapter issued a joint letter Tuesday recommending widespread use of masks in schools with the following exceptions:

• Children under the age of 2 years old
• Any child unable to remove the face covering without assistance
• A child with a significant behavioral/psychological issue undergoing treatment that is exacerbated specifically by the use of a facial covering (e.g. severe anxiety or a tactile aversion)
• A child living with severe autism or with extreme developmental delay who may become agitated or anxious wearing a mask
• A child with a facial deformity that causes airway obstruction

More things you should know today, Thursday:

• Ohio State and Michigan will not play each other to end regular football season
• Mercer County has the highest number of cases in the state per 100,000 residents with 230 cases per 100,000 since July 21:
• School districts working to prevent spread of virus on buses
• Virus hits Shelby County Sheriff’s Office
• Central State offers hybrid back-to-school plan for students
• Judge refuses to throw out state restriction on liquor sales at bars, restaurants
• Los Angeles mayor OKs shutting off power, water at large gatherings
• Major League Baseball tightens virus protocols
• Starting Aug. 9, child care providers can return to normal, statutory ratios and class sizesHumana

LATEST STATE DATA: As of Thursday afternoon, there have been at least 97,471 confirmed or probable cases in the state, 3,618 deaths, and 11,366 hospitalizations, according to the Ohio Department of Health. 74,612 people are presumed to have recovered from the virus in the state.

Ohio has an estimated population of approximately 11.7 million, census records show.

[ Local cases, deaths reported to Ohio Department of Health ]

There have been 1,592,841 people tested for the coronavirus in Ohio, according to the Ohio Department of Health.

A total of 10,991 health care workers have tested positive which is about 11 percent of the cases.

[ Local cases, deaths reported to Ohio Department of Health ]

Cox Media Group