KENT, Ohio — More than half of all Ohioans are in an area of high exposure for the coronavirus.

As of Oct. 15, Ohio had 29 counties in Red Alert Level 3, accounting for 65 percent of the state's population.

Joan Seidel, the health commissioner of Kent, said Portage County, where the city is located, has been in a level three public emergency for weeks now.

“Our positivity rate has doubled in the last two weeks,” she said. “So, it is not just that there is more testing going on. It’s that there is more community spread.”

Health officials have traced the community spread back to large parties hosted off Kent State University's campus by students. Last week, the city decided to ban gatherings of 10 or more people because of it. 

More than 60 students tested positive last week, according to the university's COVID-19 dashboard. More than 300 students were placed under quarantine at several different halls on campus, isolating whole floors. 

Because of the spike, the National Guard has been hosting pop-up testing in an around the city. Sunday was one of those events, where hundreds of students and people from all over northeast Ohio showed up. 

“A testing station like this is so important to find the positives that are asymptomatic and then trace those contacts,” said Seidel.

Seidel said the vast majority of positive cases in the city are in the 20-year-old age range.

“I really don’t think any student would intentionally try to spread this, but I do think they are not aware that they are ill,” she said. “Their symptoms are much milder than someone who is older and more mature and have chronic conditions that seem to get more severe symptoms that would bring them for testing.”

Jake Brown, a Sandusky resident, came down to the testing site Sunday because although he had no symptoms, he thought it was important to get tested anyways. 

“I’ve got a job that requires me to not be out and about with massive crowds, but still in the public, so this was convenient for me. I was going to be in the area today and figured I would get the test to make sure I am good. I feel good. I just want to make sure I am good,” said Brown.

Seidel hopes by offering free testing to the community, the numbers will start to decrease.

“We need to take it seriously. The next two weeks are very critical. Everyone is seeing a rise in test positivity, and so we want to make sure we are protecting those vulnerable populations, we do need to take this seriously. This is not a hoax,” she said.

Kent officials plan to host another pop-up testing event within the next month.

On Sunday, national health officials sounded the alarm about the pandemic, saying the worst is yet to come. 

"The next six to 12 weeks are going to be the darkest of the entire pandemic," Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.