Ohio enters the unknown with schools; Lucas still among most infected counties

By Jim Provance and Tom Troy / The Blade
Thu, 10 Dec 2020 14:36:11 GMT

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COLUMBUS — Gov. Mike DeWine on Tuesday sought to exude confidence in K-12 teachers and superintendents as more than a third of all Ohio public school students prepare to physically re-enter classrooms for instruction.

But he cautioned that he does expect an increase in coronavirus infections as they do.

“I have every confidence that they're going to do everything they can and take every precaution they can to keep your children or your grandchildren safe when they go back to school,” he told reporters. “But whatever is going on in the community will be reflected in your school.

“If there's high COVID spread throughout the community, it's going to be high in your school, and there's really no way of changing that,” he said.

Of those school districts that reported to the state, 325 — representing about 595,000 students, or 38 percent — are headed back to the classroom. Most are in rural and suburban areas of Ohio.

Another 55, representing about 398,000 students or 25.6 percent, are going to fully remote, distance-learning models. That was the choice made in most of Ohio’s urban centers.

Another 154, with 380,000 students or 24.5 percent — are tackling some hybrid of the two, Mr. DeWine said.

“It’s incumbent on all of us to do everything we can to keep down the spread in the community,” Mr. DeWine said. “It’s the most important thing we can do to keep our kids in school. Wear masks. Keep social distancing. Do not go to large gatherings of people. Stop the spread. Slow it down.”

Mr. DeWine’s medical guests addressed such scenarios as to when children, teachers, or family members should be expected to quarantine after a person in a school or on a bus tests positive.

Dr. John Barnard, chief of pediatrics for Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, said 90 percent of children under the age of 18 recover easily from coronavirus, but a few get severely sick. In Ohio, 8.6 percent of children with suspicious symptoms have tested positive for the disease. The incidence was four to six times higher in minority groups.

Dr. Patty Manning, chief of staff at Cincinnati Children's Hospital, said doctors are biased in favor of in-person instruction when possible.

But her advice, in order of importance: Wear a mask. Practice physical distancing. Practice frequent hand sanitation. Keep surfaces clean. Take advantage of the outdoors or fresh air ventilation when possible.

She and Dr. Barnard said crowded school hallways are not optimal, but are less of a threat than might be expected because students are usually tightly together for fewer than 15 minutes at a time. The introduction of face masks to such a situation would further reduce the risk.

But Dr. Manning cautioned that the United States has little experience in measuring the risk in its schools.

“Moving forward with schools, there's a lot of uncertainty with how this will go,” she said.

Many Toledo-area public schools have opted to start the year online pursuant to a recommendation last week from the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department. Some, including Anthony Wayne district in southwest Lucas County, are going with a hybrid in-person / online approach. Others will vote in the next few days to adopt plans.

Not everyone embraces each school’s plans. In Sylvania, for example, parents and students protested Monday, seeking a chance for the students to play sports and have in-person instruction.

Several other Lucas County districts have decided to start the year online. Toledo Public Schools made that decision even before the health commission board gave its recommendation.

Statewide, Ohio received reports of 1,095 new cases during the past 24 hours, fewer than the daily average of 1,220 over the last three weeks. The state has had a total of 102,826 cases.

There were 35 deaths reported, well above the 21-day average of 23, and 131 hospitalizations, also above the average of 96. Hospitalizations and deaths tend to lag new infection statistics.

Governor DeWine released the second round of weekly rankings of county infection rates, with Lucas County ranking fourth, down from second last week. It had 154.5 cases of coronavirus per 100,000 residents in the past two weeks.

Seneca was the only other northwest Ohio county in the top 10 — at number 10 — with 110.6 cases per 100,000 people.

Last week Mr. DeWine cited recent outbreaks in Lucas County at a day care center, a local university, and camping that contributed to the county's high numbers.

The county health department’s criteria for an outbreak of coronavirus is two or more cases linked to common exposure, excluding any transmission that occurs within families.

Health Commissioner Eric Zgodzinski said the outbreaks mentioned by the governor each represent “less than five, but more than two” cases. He said the university outbreak referred to a number of off-campus cases at the University of Toledo, where classes are slated to begin next week.

“What the governor is trying to do is tell the story of what’s going on out there,” he said. “[The coronavirus] is going to the bars and restaurants, but it also affects these other places. The community needs to understand that COVID can be anywhere. It doesn’t matter where you are at.”

Mr. Zgodzinski declined to provide further details due to medical and legal privacy concerns for the people involved. He said that they have and will continue to share information publicly if larger outbreaks occur to help with contact tracing and control efforts.

Blade staff writer Conor Johnson contributed to this report.

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