• Pauses baseline saliva testing at assisted living facilities for inconsistent results

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine will sign an order requiring schools to establish a reporting mechanism for parents to report COVID19 cases.

“After learning of a student or staff member who tested positive, K-12 schools must report that case to the local health department as quickly as possible,” said Governor Mike DeWine.

“The local health department will then notify Ohio Health Department of Health on a weekly basis about newly reported cases in schools, as well as the cumulative case data for students/teachers. This data will be posted every Wednesday at http://coronavirus.ohio.gov.”

Governor DeWine said, “prompt reporting will help prevent potential further spread among students and staff,” adding that “just because there is a case at a school, it doesn’t mean the school has done anything wrong. The spread you see in the community will be reflected in the schools.”

At assisted living facilities, Governor DeWine said, “we began baseline saliva testing at assisted living facilities last week, but some facilities noticed inconsistent results.

“We’ve paused this method of specimen collection temporarily as we conduct controlled validation testing to determine why there have been irregularities.”