OHIO — Gov. Mike DeWine released the updated travel advisory list Wednesday, and many people noticed something different.
Ohio is now on its own list.
The Ohio Department of Health (ODH) advises anyone who travels to and from these states to quarantine for 14 days. All of them have a positivity rate of 15% or higher, which is why DeWine added the Buckeye State to its own list.
“This is the first week since April where Ohio’s positivity for COVID-19 has increased above 15%. The state has seen record levels of cases, deaths, and hospitalizations in the past week, and all Ohioans can help to limit the spread and impact of this virus," ODH stated in a press release.
ODH is urging 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.
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.
Fourteen states are now on the list, which is down from 16 last week.
Ohio reported 7,835 new cases Wednesday, but DeWine said the numbers reported this week will likely grow as ODH works through a backlog of positive antigen tests.
There were 123 deaths reported, which is the second day in a row the state documented more than 100 deaths.
Hospital capacity rose slightly to 75.5% Wednesday, which is up from 74% Tuesday.