The Ross County Health District is reporting that there are now two confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ross County residents.
The Health District’s infectious disease staff are following established guidelines and will contact anyone these individuals have been in close contact with. The District did not provide any demographic information on the two patients.
To date, Adena Health System has performed 54 COVID-19 screenings. Currently, 16 of those test specimens are with the Ohio Department of Health and a private laboratory company, as Adena clinicians and patients await the results. Testing for COVID-19 is ongoing across the Health System, which is following the testing criteria recommended by the CDC and the Ohio Department of Health. The criteria is meant to preserve the limited number of test kits available to hospitals.
Research and development pioneer Battelle and the OSU Wexner Medical Center say they have created a new COVID-19 test. Officials at OSU said yesterday they will use the rapid, sensitive diagnostic test under its existing FDA certification permits. Battelle researchers have been working for weeks on the new testing process at their lab facilities in West Jefferson. The test should be able to produce a positive or negative result in around five-hours with a goal of completing more than one-thousand tests per day.
In the meantime, the Ross County Health District continues working with numerous partners including, but not limited to, the Ross County Emergency Management Agency, City of Chillicothe, Ross County Commissioners, Ross County Community Action, Ross County Sheriff’s Office, Chillicothe Police Department, South Central Job and Family Services, and Adena Health Systems to mitigate the impact of a COVID-19 outbreak and keep the community safe.
The Health District reiterates the importance of Governor DeWine’s ‘Stay At Home’ Order and to follow provided guidance on social distancing and hand washing.