Coronavirus: DeWine announces health order for schools to report COVID-19 cases

COLUMBUS — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced the details of a health order that will require K-12 schools and school districts to report COVID-19 cases to the state and public.

PREVIOUS REPORT: Order outlining reporting COVID-19 cases in schools expected this week, DeWine says

Starting Sept. 8, parents or guardians of students and school staff are required to notify their school within 24 hours of receiving either a positive test result or a clinical diagnosis, DeWine announced during his Thursday briefing of the state’s coronavirus response.

Within 24 hours of the school being notified of the positive test result of the student of staff member, parents or guardians are to be notified by the school in writing, providing as much information as possible without releasing protected health information, DeWine said.

Starting Sept. 15, local health departments will begin reporting the number of newly reported and cumulative cases to the Ohio Department of Health. The local health departments will continue to report cases to the state every Tuesday.

The Ohio Department of Health will then publish the data by the school or school district, including a breakdown of cases by students and staff members, each Thursday, DeWine announced.

“We understand there is a balance between privacy and transparency,” DeWine said. “Again, we do not intend for protected health information to be released in our effort to provide information to Ohioans so they can make the right decisions for their family.”

“As I have said before, just because a school may have positive cases among its students or staff, that does not mean the school did anything wrong. Schools can’t control what happens out in the community where someone may have contracted the virus,” DeWine said.

We’ll continue to update this story as more details become available.

Cox Media Group