CUYAHOGA COUNTY, Ohio — As of Wednesday morning, all government buildings within Cuyahoga County require masks regardless of vaccination status. 

County Executive Armond Bush signed the executive order Tuesday after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention identified the county as having a "high" community level spread of COVID-19 based on case numbers and hospitalizations.

What You Need To Know

  • Masks are required in all Cuyahoga County government buildings

  • All visitors and employees are required to mask regardless of vaccination status

  • The CDC identified Cuyahoga Countyas having a "high" community level spread of COVID-19

There are three indicators the (CDC) uses to determine the community level: New COVID-19 hospital admissions per 100,000 population in the last seven days, the percent of staffed inpatient beds occupied by patients with confirmed COVID-19 and new COVID-19 cases per 100,00 population in the last seven days.

Cuyahoga County's current average is 366 cases per day, reported on May 30, which is above the 200-case threshold to be labeled as having a "high" community level. 

“COVID-19 cases are increasing again in Cuyahoga County, and we do not want to get back to where we were in December of last year,” wrote County Executive Armond Budish in a news release. “I know nobody wants to go back to mask mandates, but this executive order is a necessary measure to help keep both visitors to our buildings and our employees better protected against the virus."

Budish encouraged residents who are unvaccinated to go and get the shot and stay up to date on boosters.

"This will better protect you, your loved ones and the community," he wrote. "We will overcome this virus together.”

Visitors and employees are asked to wear face coverings while in a county-owned building, keep a distance of at least six feet apart from others and allow only four people in an elevator at a time.

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