COLUMBUS, Ohio — On Thursday, the Ohio Department of Health released an updated travel advisory map that includes 14 states where Ohioans are advised against visiting. Neighboring Pennsylvania remains on the list.
The 14 states included are reporting recent average positive testing rates of 15% or higher for COVID-19.
Ohio is not on the list but it is among several states reporting positivity testing rates of 13%.
The advisory is intended for both leisure and business travel, one that the department of health wants Ohioans and out-of-state travelers to follow.
Based on a 7-day rolling average of positivity rates of November 18, the affected states are:
- South Dakota: 56.3%
- Iowa: 51.0%
- Kansas: 44.0%
- Idaho: 40.1 %
- Pennsylvania: 24.0%
- Alabama: 21.2%
- Montana: 21.0%
- Utah: 20.1%
- Mississippi: 19.0%
- Missouri: 18.0%
- Wisconsin: 16.0%
- Arizona: 16.0%
- Oklahoma: 15.0%
- Minnesota: 15%
Wyoming is shaded gray on the map because it was showing multiple days in the past week without overall testing volume data, so an accurate positivity rate can’t be calculated.
Residents in Ohio remain under a statewide curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. for 21 days. Read more on the curfew here.
On Thursday, the CDC issued a recommendation to Americans not travel for Thanksgiving during the current spike in coronavirus cases nationwide.
“As cases continue to increase rapidly across the United States, the safest way to celebrate Thanksgiving is to celebrate at home with the people you live with,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website reads. “Travel may increase your chance of getting and spreading COVID-19. Postponing travel and staying home is the best way to protect yourself and others this year.”
If people are still planning to travel for the Thanksgiving holiday, the CDC has a series of questions on their website for travelers and family members to consider before going ahead with travel plans.
Questions include: Are you, someone in your household, or someone you will be visiting at increased risk for getting very sick from COVID-19? Are cases high or increasing in your community or your destination? Are hospitals in your community or your destination overwhelmed with patients who have COVID-19? Do your plans include traveling by bus, train, or air which might make staying 6 feet apart difficult?
RELATED:CDC recommends Americans do not travel for Thanksgiving amid spike in COVID-19 cases
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Click here for a page with resources including a COVID-19 overview from the CDC, details on cases in Ohio, a timeline of Governor Mike DeWine's orders since the outbreak, coronavirus' impact on Northeast Ohio, and link to more information from the Ohio Department of Health, the Cuyahoga County Board of Health, the CDC and the WHO.
See data visualizations showing the impact of coronavirus in Ohio, including county-by-county maps, charts showing the spread of the disease, and more.
The CDC and the Ohio Department of Health are now recommending the use of cloth face coverings in public to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Read more about the CDC's recommendation here. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to make a face maskfrom common household materials, without having to know how to sew.
View a global coronavirus tracker with data from Johns Hopkins University.
