Several area counties are seeing a spike in COVID-19 positive tests, adding more to Ohio's map of counties that are now in "Red Level 3".
Ross, Fayette, Pike, Scioto and Madison counties are now in the "Red Level 3" category on Ohio’s COVID-19 Alert Map, as of Thursday afternoon (10/8/20).
Incidents in Fayette County are at the point, that Governor Mike DeWine addressed the county's his incidence rate in his statewide afternoon press conference. DeWine stated: "Fayette is almost at 3 times the high incidence level of the CDC...they're at 291 cases per 100,000".
DeWine added this concerning Fayette County: " Local officials say outbreaks are in a school, another associated with a funeral, another with a large family".
Fayette Christian School temporarily closed on September 28th after several incident occurred there. Pioneer Center in Ross County announced their recent shutdown due to a similar scenario.
As previously announced, starting Monday, Paint Valley Schools will be going to a 50/50 learning plan, where half of the students will continue in-person classroom learning and the other 50% will be on virtual learning. This came about after 10 staffers and 55 students were placed in quarantine as a precaution, when tracing found some of the PV people had come into contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.
The change to Red Level 3 has caused Westfall Schools to suspend any competitions involving opposing schools from these high alert counties. The Mustangs have already postponed contests in football, volleyball and soccer vs Piketon and now Huntington volleyball, after Ross County became a Red Alert county on Thursday.
In the Scioto Valley Conference, championships have already been decided in football, boys and girls soccer and boys golf, but volleyball and cross country remain undecided. In volleyball, Westfall's remaining SVC matches are all against three Ross county schools, along with Piketon.
An official from the Pickaway County Health Department told iHeart Media News, Thursday, that the decision not to play schools in "red" counties is a recommendation from the Ohio Health Department, but is left up to each school as to how they will proceed.