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Ohio COVID-19 Cases Plunged After Mask Mandate
New positive tests are down more than a third since Gov. Mike DeWine’s statewide order July 23.
www.thedailybeast.com
New COVID-19 cases in Ohio have dropped by more than a third since Gov. Mike DeWine put a statewide mask mandate in place on July 23. Cleveland.com notes that the data shows a correlation between the order and the reduction in cases, not a definite cause-and-effect. But the plunge was dramatic—and three large counties that were put under a mask mandate on July 7 showed decreases in the weeks after, even while cases were on the upswing elsewhere, the news site reported. DeWine has been criticized by conservatives for his mask mandate.
Ohio’s coronavirus cases drop after statewide mask order, dramatically so in some counties
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine's mask order went statewide on July 23.
www.cleveland.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio - There’s no way for sure to tie the outcome directly to Gov. Mike DeWine’s statewide order to wear masks, but new coronavirus cases are down across Ohio since the order was imposed July 23, dramatically so in some in some counties.
This trend becomes clear in examining the dates for the estimated onset of symptoms for each case, rather than when the cases were finally reported by the state.
DeWine on July 7 issued a mask order for seven “red alert” counties, including Cuyahoga, Hamilton and Franklin. After the initial order was implemented in the three big counties, reported cases began to fall, while they were still increasing elsewhere.
The governor then implemented the mask order statewide on July 23.
The onset of new cases appear to be down more than a third since the state order was issued, cleveland.com found in analyzing Ohio Department of Health data for July 17-23 and Aug. 14-20.
The dates since Aug. 20 were not included in the analysis because it takes time from when symptoms begin until when people get tested, and the results are relayed to the state. So in each of the two time periods, cleveland.com examined case data available one week later.
There are 5,082 known coronavirus cases with an onset of symptoms from Aug. 14 through Aug. 20, a 34.9% drop from the 7,804 cases that were known by July 30 for cases with an onset from July 17-23.
Case counts fell in nearly every county where there were more than a handful of cases, or enough to offer trends.
Among the 24 Ohio counties where there were at least 75 cases with an onset July 17-23:
- Case counts were higher Aug. 14-20 in just three counties: Stark (8%), Clermont (14.1%) and Allen (52.4%).
- Case counts dropped for the other 21 counties, led by Licking (72.9%), Hancock (67.6%) and Portage (66.7%).
- Case counts were down more than the statewide rate in each of Ohio’s three largest counties: Franklin (46.5%), Cuyahoga (49.4%) and Hamilton (54.9%).
