CLEVELAND — With decreasing COVID-19 cases in Northeast Ohio, the Cuyahoga Court of Common Pleas and the 8th District Court of Appeals has eased its mask mandates and issued new guidance for when masking will be required.
The courts said the decision was based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines released last month.
The mask guidance is as follows:
- When Cuyahoga County is at a “High” level, all staff and public must wear a mask, regardless of vaccination status.
- When Cuyahoga County is at a “Medium” level, staff and public may choose, but are not required, to wear a mask if they are at a higher risk for severe illness or caring for someone who is at a higher risk for severe illness.
- When Cuyahoga County is at a “Low” level, staff and public may choose, but are not required, to wear a mask based on personal preference.
- Any person who has COVID-19 symptoms, has been exposed to someone with COVID-19, or who has tested positive for COVID-19 must wear a mask for 10 days following the date of exposure or positive COVID-19 test.
- Any person who is unvaccinated is strongly encouraged to wear a mask at all times while in a Court facility.
Currently, Cuyahoga County is under medium-level risk, the courts said.
“This is another step toward normalizing the day-to-day operations of the Court,” says Judge Brendan J. Sheehan, who is also the Presiding Judge of the four Common Pleas divisions. “We have always followed the CDC recommendations in order to keep our staff and public safe.”
The courts said masking guidance will be updated as needed.
The numbers
The Ohio Department of Health reported 1,051 new COVID-19 cases across the state in the last 24 hours. One-hundred-seventeen people were hospitalized and six people were admitted to the ICU during that time.
Ohio has had a total of 2,058,712 confirmed cases since the pandemic began. A total of 36,789 people have died.
Download the News 5 Cleveland app now for more stories from us, plus alerts on major news, the latest weather forecast, traffic information and much more. Download now on your Apple device here, and your Android device here.
You can also catch News 5 Cleveland on Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, YouTube TV, DIRECTV NOW, Hulu Live and more. We're also on Amazon Alexa devices. Learn more about our streaming options here.
