Thiel said he wasn’t sure whether he was “at liberty,” to say if the case was a student or staff member. He also did not release in which school the case was identified.
Urbana City School District is now the second K-12 Champaign County district with a confirmed COVID-19 case, as of Friday. Graham Local School District confirmed a positive COVID-19 case last week according to a letter posted on the district’s website.
The school cases come as Champaign County jumped back level 2 on the Ohio Public Health Advisory System on Thursday after spending two straight weeks at level 1.
The county first hit level 2 on Aug. 13 and remained there until Sept. 3. Prior to that, the county had been at a level 1 since Gov. Mike DeWine unveiled the advisory system on July 2.
During that three week span, the Champaign Health District blamed the counties level 2 ranking on two things, a workplace outbreak at a farm in Urbana and community spread.
“Now more than ever we urge all Champaign County residents to please take all precautions you can to protect yourselves and others," Jones said at the time.
The workplace outbreak at Michael Farms, located at 5089 Urbana-Moorefield Rd., recorded a total of 50 positive cases of COVID-19.
All 86 employees of the farm were tested by the Ohio Department of Health on Aug. 3. By Aug. 19, the district said the outbreak had been contained. All cases related to the outbreak were employees, Shelby Ballentine, Health Educator for the CHD, said previously.
The advisory system ranges from level 1 or yellow as the lowest to level 4 or purple as the highest and most severe. No county has received a purple rating.
The seven indicators the Ohio Department of Health uses when judging what level to give a county are: new cases per capita, sustained increase in new cases, proportion of cases not in a congregate spread, sustained increase in emergency department visits for COVID-like illness, sustained increase in outpatient visits for COVID-like illness, sustained increase in new COVID hospital admissions and intensive care unit bed occupancy.
Last week, Champaign County hit one indicator: proportion of cases not in a congregate spread. This week the county hit two: new cases per capita and proportion of cases not in a congregate spread.
This means the county’s swing to level 2 can be blamed on an increase in cases over the past two weeks, from 12 cases in a week to 20.
Jones said unlike the first jump to level 2, the county has been “unable to find a connection between most cases.”
However, he said the district is currently monitoring one outbreak.
“But there are only two cases thus far,” Jones said.
Champaign County had 285 cases and three deaths of the coronavirus as of Friday afternoon, according to ODH. Clark County had 1,704 cases, 38 deaths and two probable deaths.
Ohio reported 142,596 total cases and 4,608 total deaths of the coronavirus on Friday, according to ODH. Between Thursday and Friday, the state reported 1,011 new cases and 28 new deaths.
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