TOLEDO, Ohio — The Toledo-Lucas County Health Department updated the community on the latest developments and trends in COVID-19 cases in the area during a news conference on Monday.
Toledo-Lucas County Health Commissioner Eric Zgodzinski addressed several topics including:
- overall case counts
- age groups affected
- updates on Put-in-Bay cases and testing
- updates on funeral homes
- testing
Schools
Zgodzinski started off the news conference discussing school, stressing that "we will have some sort of school in the fall." He urged getting children vaccinated now to avoid a rush later.
When asked his recommendation when it comes to bringing students back full-time, five days a week in class, he said that each school will be different, based on class sizes.
"The mask use is going to be big," he said. "We have to employ every tool we possibly can, so I think people are starting to buy into wearing face coverings at schools."
Mask mandates
Looking at the issue of a mask mandate that Toledo City Council is to soon address, Zgodzinski noted that the draft ordinance gives the ability for exemptions to wearing a mask, but notes that if people are out and about, "we really want people to use them."
When asked if Lucas County needed a mandate, Zgodzinski said that he wants people to do the right thing on their own and will wait to see what happens with Toledo's mask mandate.
He said that both the Toledo Police Department and the health department would work together to enforce a mask mandate if adopted by Toledo City Council.
"I really wish we wouldn't have to enforce anything. But with any ordinance, you need to be able to enforce it," Zgodzinski said.
"My point of view has always been having community members do what's right to stay ahead of it. Mask use is so important. ... There is research out there that shows it does work, especially when coupled with that 6-foot distance. If we couple it with all the other things we should do, it works. We need to learn to exist with the virus, until there's a vaccine," he said.
Zgodzinski says Lucas County isn't in the Level 3 Red Alert, but we are lagging about two weeks behind the counties such as Cuyahoga and Franklin.
"We are going to approach red sometime in the next two weeks, but I'm not sure it would be this week," he said.
Community spread
He also said that the area has seen a "large amount" of COVID cases coming in through the lab, saying more than 150 cases came in over the weekend.
"We are seeing more cases, we are seeing more community spread," he said.
Since July 1, Zgodzinski said, there have been almost 500 cases of COVID-19 in the community.
"If we want to make sure we aren't mandated to do things by the governor, like wear a mask, we really need to take it upon ourselves to stem the tide of the disease," Zgodzinski said.
About 56% of the new cases are in the 18- to 30-year-old age range, which is a change from previous trends. Zgodzinski attributes that to this age group being out, socializing and going back to work.
He said to mitigate this, "we really shouldn't be going out as much as we'd like to," and should continue to wear a face covering and practice good hygiene and social distancing.
Put-in-Bay cases
He followed up on Put-in-Bay and the number of positive cases found there and the subsequent spread.
"That number has grown, and we can link 16 more residents to Put in Bay (exposure)," Zgodzinski said.
Large groups/exposure at funerals
When it comes to being in large groups, the health commissioner stressed that people need to think of it as, "The individual next to me has COVID," in order to best protect yourself. He cited instances from early July when people came into contact with infected people at a funeral in Oregon.
Last week, it was learned through contact tracing that multiple people with confirmed cases of COVID-19 visited an Oregon funeral home in early July.
Anyone who visited the Eggleston Meinert and Pavley Funeral Home at 440 S. Coy Rd. on Sunday July 5 from 1-8 p.m. for the funeral and showings of Jeremy Newman and Richard Molinski may have been exposed to the virus, the health department said on Saturday.
According to the health department, every guest in attendance for longer than 15 minutes should self-quarantine through Sunday July 19.
Anyone who may have been exposed should monitor themselves for symptoms such as fever, cough, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, new loss of taste or smell, sore throat congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea and/or difficulty breathing until July 19.
If symptoms do develop you are asked to call your doctor and get a COVID test.