CLEVELAND, Ohio — If Cuyahoga County is put on purple-alert Thursday, schools from Warrensville Heights to Strongsville will close their doors. Some libraries may also close.
Berea, Fairview Park, Rocky River, Strongsville and Warrensville Heights are among the school districts that will switch immediately to remote learning if Cuyahoga reaches the most severe level in Ohio’s color-coded coronavirus map. Orange schools will remain remote if Cuyahoga goes purple, but otherwise will start a hybrid plan Monday.
No county has officially gone purple since the state map was launched over the summer to track cases, hospitalizations and other factors in the pandemics. Cuyahoga, Clark and Hamilton are at red, the third level, and were put on the purple watch list last week.
The Cuyahoga County Board of Health is recommending all schools teach virtually while in purple status. The board also recommended school start virtually, when the county was red.
“And the same thing with extracurricular activities and sports,” said board spokesman Kevin Brennan. “That if they were able to be done virtually that would be fine, but we would not recommend any in-person type of activities.”
Gov. Mike DeWine said Wednesday that he will not issue additional orders for any purple counties. On a call with county officials Tuesday, DeWine said leaders are concerned about people going to “events” and they know efforts need to be stepped up to combat the spread.
Berea students have been on a hybrid plan. The district is preparing for virtual learning, alerting parents to the possibility and sending students home with supplies.
“Our ultimate goal is to safely bring students back to in-person when it is appropriate. I appreciate your patience and understanding as we navigate the changing situation and strive to work together in order to have our students return to school safely when it is possible,” Berea Superintendent Tracy L. Wheeler wrote in a letter to families.
She wrote that the board of health met last Friday with Cuyahoga County superintendents indicating “there is a strong likelihood that our county will reach a Level 4/Purple Advisory Level.”
On Oct. 16, Strongsville’s school board had voted to follow through on the plan to return to in-person classes five days a week for all grade levels starting Oct. 19. Then the surge started.
Many other districts, including Bay Village, Cleveland, Lakewood and Parma, are already in virtual mode. Brecksville-Broadview Heights Schools, which had planned to begin in-person learning every day, plans to stay in its hybrid learning model.
Mayfield City Schools will continue to provide in-person classes.
“At this time, should the county color move from red to purple, Mayfield City Schools will continue to provide in-person and remote learning options for our students until conditions become unmanageable or unsafe," Superintendent Keith Kelly wrote in an email. “As a community, we must remain vigilant. Our actions matter. Parties and large gatherings are impacting the spread of the virus. If our schools are to remain open, we must practice responsible prevention - wear masks, wash your hands, practice social distancing, and stay home if you are feeling sick.”
Warrensville Heights City Schools Superintendent Donald Jolly said the priority is maintaining the health and safety of their students while providing the best education possible.
“Over the next few days, the District will closely monitor our local situation to make an informed decision to proactively protect our scholar’s health and preserve the best educational experience possible. I sincerely appreciate the community’s collaboration and patience as we navigate this constantly evolving situation, together,” said Jolly.
Ohio libraries plan to continue to take guidance from the CDC, state and local health departments and officials to make decisions to ensure the safety and health of their staff and patrons.
“We have several task forces in place that have established operational procedures due to COVID-19. Should the county reach purple and the Governor or Mayor issued a stay-at-home order, the Library has protocols in place to execute a variety of options,” said Cleveland Public Library spokeswoman Tana Peckham.
Westlake Porter Public Library will adjust services and operations as needed, said spokesman Drew LaFollette.
Rocky River Public Library will switch to only curbside service if the county switches to purple.
The Cuyahoga County Public Library is monitoring coronavirus metrics and plans to continue to keep buildings open “as long as staff and customers continue to follow our guidelines around required face coverings, limited capacity, social distancing, and frequent cleaning.”
The library “will continue to monitor the situation and will make changes should we see any alarming trends.”
Ohio defines the purple alert as “severe exposure and spread" and instructs residents to leave home only for supplies and services.
Under the coronavirus map, counties are labeled purple if they meet six or more of the seven indicators:
New cases per capita: Flagged if greater than 50 cases per 100,000 residents over the last two weeks. Allows for counties with different population sizes to be appropriately compared.
Sustained increase in new cases: Flagged if increasing trend of at least 5 consecutive days in overall cases by onset date over the last 3 weeks. Reflects disease spread in the population.
Proportion of cases not in a congregate setting: Flagged if proportion of cases that are not in a congregate setting goes over 50% in at least one of the last 3 weeks. Used as indicator of greater risk of community spread.
Sustained increase in Emergency Department (ED) visits for COVID-like illness: Flagged if increasing trend of at least 5 consecutive days in the number of visits to the emergency department with COVID-like illness or a diagnosis over the last 3 weeks. Provides information on the health care seeking behavior of the population and a sense of how concerned residents are about their current health status and the virus.
Sustained increase in outpatient visits for COVID-like illness: Flagged if increasing trend of at least 5 consecutive days in the number of people going to a health care provider with COVID symptoms who then receive a COVID confirmed or suspected diagnosis over the last 3 weeks. Provides information on the health care seeking behavior of the population and a sense of how concerned residents are about their current health status and the virus.
Sustained increase in new COVID hospital admissions: Flagged if increasing trend of at least 5 consecutive days in the number of new hospitalizations due to COVID over the last 3 weeks. Important indicator of hospital burden and disease severity.
Intensive Care Unit (ICU) bed occupancy: Flagged if percentage of the occupied ICU beds in each region goes above 80% for at least three days in the last week, AND more than 20% of ICU beds are being used for COVID-19 positive patients for at least three days in the last week. Provides an indication of the capacity available to manage a possible surge of severely ill patients.
This story has been corrected to reflect that Mayfield City Schools have no plans to switch to virtual learning.
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Schools and libraries may shut down again if Cuyahoga County hits purple on Ohio’s COVID-19 color map - cleveland.com
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