By Collin Cunningham
(CUYAHOGA COUNTY, Ohio) The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now recommends both vaccinated and unvaccinated Cuyahoga County residents and visitors wear face masks indoors after the county that contains Cleveland reported a daily average of 99 new COVID-19 cases over a seven-day period on Sunday.
Per 3News, the rising daily case average has moved the county containing Cleveland into the CDC's "substantial," zone, which is designated for regions that report more than 50 new coronavirus cases per 100,000 residents in a week.
While not a mandate requiring or advising residents to wear masks for safety reasons, the shifting regulations are intended to get people to be more mindful of the spread and prevent any additional lockdowns.
Speaking at a press conference last week, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said there was no "appetite" in the state for re-instituting a mask mandate when students return to school in August and September.
"We did last year in the schools and it worked well," he added. "There's not the appetite in this state for that. I do not effectively have the ability to do that. But what I do have the ability to do and what the health department has the ability to do is to tell what the facts are."
The "substantial" risk level is a jump up from the "moderate" level. Below that is "low" and at the top of the scale is "high." It comes after Cleveland.com reported weeks of climbing numbers beginning in July. A daily average of 100 reported for the week ending July 10 quickly climbed to 245 the following week before racing 328 on July 24.
While public schools, colleges and universities have been free to implement their own requirements for face coverings ahead of the start of the school year, a bill that DeWine signed could prevent such institutions from requiring students to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
The law takes the form of a provision tacked on to an unrelated bill dealing with education options for the families of military personnel. But it doesn't take effect until Oct. 12, and will only affect vaccines that have not been fully approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. So far, all three options in the U.S. have been partially certified but not fully.
The new daily case report marks the first time in nearly three months that vaccinated Clevelanders or visitors to the city have had to wear masks inside buildings. DeWine lifted the statewide health order on May 17 after it had been in place since July 22, 2020.