AKRON, Ohio — The city of Akron will not renew its pandemic-related mandate limiting the number of guests allowed in private homes, which expires Dec. 16, said Mayor Dan Horrigan in a statement Thursday.

“The data was, and remains, very clear: community spread of COVID-19 is happening at home,” he said in the statement.

Now, regional plans for mass casualties are being activated and will include mobile morgues and auxiliary hospital facilities, Horrigan said.

As of Thursday, Ohio’s coronavirus case tally of 531,850 was the fourth highest to date, Gov. Mike DeWine said in his televised briefing.

The governor and health officials have ramped up their urgent warnings about private gatherings, recommending people avoid traveling, gathering and mingling with people outside their households.

Akron’s private-gathering ordinance, designed to help curb the spread of coronavirus, mandated similar restrictions. It was developed at the request of the area’s hospital systems, Horrigan said.

Officials from Akron General Cleveland Clinic, Summa Health System and Akron Children’s Hospital told Akron City Council their hospitals, specifically their intensive care units, were filling.

Akron’s ordinance went into effect Nov. 16, just ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. It prohibited large private gatherings of more than six guests who live outside the home for 30 days.

The rule also required face masks be worn in Akron at all private gatherings of fewer than six guests, except for those eating a meal, 10 or younger, with a medical condition or outside with six-feet of distance.

Enforcement for the ordinance was up to the Summit County Public Health working in conjunction with the Akron Police Department. Anyone caught violating the rule faced civil fines up to $250.

However, no fines were issued because the ordinance was implemented using “professional compassion and sound judgment,” Horrigan said.

However, city officials were unsuccessful in compelling authorities in communities surrounding Akron to adopt similar restrictions, Horrigan said.

“In consultation with our public health officials, it is clear that this impeded effectiveness, as Akron daily welcomes workers, patients and visitors from across the region,” Horrigan said. “Without appropriate scale, public health measures such as ours will not be effective in slowing community spread.”

Summit County has reached Level 4, or purple, which is the highest level in the Ohio Health Department’s Public Health Advisory System for COVID-19 cases.

As of Thursday, Summit County has 20,068 confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19, up from 9,288 exactly a month ago, according to the health department.

Official expects those numbers to continue to rise as people gather for the holidays.

“We remain within the darkest days of this pandemic, and it will be months before we begin to emerge from it,” Horrigan said in the statement. “Lives can still be saved, but only if we take our shared responsibility to one another seriously.”