Cuyahoga County Issues Stay-at-Home Advisory

CLEVELAND — Cuyahoga County officials issued a stay-at-home advisory on Wednesday.

The advisory recommends schools and churches temporarily close and suggests residents should not host any guests during the holiday season.

"Universities and public and private K-12 schools that are currently implementing a hybrid or full in-person protocol are advised to transition to online remote learning after the Thanksgiving

holiday," the county health order said.

Employers are being asked to keep as many workers remote as possible. Ohio will be under curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. for the next three weeks.

During a news conference, Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish and Mayor Frank Jackson said positive COVID-19 tests have spiked in recent weeks and new measures are needed to stymie the virus.

"We're in a spike," Jackson said. He said a month ago, Cleveland was confirming a small number of new COVID-19 cases per day or week. Now the city has confirmed more than 500 new COVID-19 cases in two days.

Jackson added that data from Case Western Reserve University suggests the county could soon be confirming 1,000 to 1,200 new cases per day.

Jackson and Budish said the advisory will not be punitive. However, behavior within the county must be changed, officials said. If current COVID-19 trends continue, the region's expansive hospital systems could soon be overrun.

In the first two weeks of November, the Cuyahoga County Board of Health confirmed 50 COVID-19-related deaths among residents.