© 2024 WOSU Public Media
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Ohio To Release County-Level COVID-19 Test Positivity Data

Two people walk past a sign for COVID-19 testing at the Cleveland Clinic, Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2020, in Cleveland.
Tony Dejak
/
Associated Press

Ohio is now making COVID-19 test positivity data available on the county level with state health officials saying this will help give a clearer picture on the potential spread of the virus in specific communities.

Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, Ohio Department of Health chief medical officer, said the state will be rolling out an online tool, starting Monday, that allows people see the COVID-19 positivity in different neighborhoods of their county.

Local lab information has been required to be reported since last year but Vanderhoff said it took a while to get to the point where they could create this tool.

"To have a large enough number of labs onboarded, in place, and now actively reporting the information for us to reliably activate and use that," Vanderhoff said.

He says the county positivity rate will not be factored into the state color-coded advisory system.

Copyright 2021 The Statehouse News Bureau. To see more, visit The Statehouse News Bureau.

Andy Chow is a general assignment state government reporter who focuses on environmental, energy, agriculture, and education-related issues. He started his journalism career as an associate producer with ABC 6/FOX 28 in Columbus before becoming a producer with WBNS 10TV.
Related Content