Bruce Vanderhoff

Federal COVID-19 policies are changing, but some of Ohio’s practices for handling the pandemic will remain in place indefinitely.

Despite the nation reaching the grim milestone of 1 million COVID deaths, ODH Director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff says Ohio is doing "well" compared to previous spikes.

They say this variant, which has been prevalent in Europe, could make its way to Ohio soon. They caution Ohioans to prepare instead of worrying.

Daily reporting will give way to weekly reporting. And reporting by schools will be changed too.

Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff says masks and vaccinations are still important tools to fight COVID-19.

Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff said COVID case numbers and hospitalizations are down but there’s still a big threat to public safety when you consider where the state stands right now.

Earlier this month, the Ohio Department of Health said it would send rapid COVID tests first to K-12 schools instead of libraries and health departments. But now the health department is considering reversing that decision.

Hospitalizations are down in Northern Ohio but going up in Southern Ohio.

Ohio Dept of Health Director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff said layered strategies are the best strategies.

Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff said the record-high number of cases right now is driving record-high hospitalizations. He uses the word, “tsunami” when describing this surge, driven by the omicron variant.