OHIO — Thirteen states are on Ohio's travel advisory list, and it still includes the Buckeye State itself.
The Ohio Department of Health (ODH) advises anyone who travels to and from these states to quarantine for 14 days. All of the states have a positivity rate of 15% or higher.
Ohio hit a new record for positivity rate, which now stands at 17%. In early December, the state had a 15% positivity rate for the first time, which warranted ODH to put Ohio on its own travel advisory list.
The positivity rate is the percentage of people who test positive for COVID-19 compared to the total number of people tested in the last week.
ODH urges Ohioans to avoid traveling in the state to see people or family members they may not have seen in a while. Health officials ask everyone to self-quarantine or stay home as much as they can. Although the travel advisory is not a mandate, it's strongly recommended as cases and hospitalizations remain at high levels across the U.S.
On Wednesday, Ohio reported 5,409 new cases, 123 deaths, 497 hospitalizations and 61 ICU admissions.
Health officials say Wednesday's totals are "artificially low" because of tech issues, which prevented them from entering the final tally. In the next few days, the data is expected to be updated with accurate numbers.
The other states on the travel advisory list are:
- South Dakota
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Utah
- Pennsylvania
- Missouri
- Arizona
- Mississippi
- Tennessee
- Nevada
- Arkansas
- Texas