CINCINNATI — The Ohio Department of Health on Friday published the complete text of an order that will make district-by-district — and, in rare cases, school-by-school — COVID-19 case information accessible to the public starting in mid-September.
The order, which was issued by ODH interim director Lance Himes, applies to K-12 schools in the state of Ohio.
The order instructs staff members and students’ guardians to notify their school within 24 hours of receiving a positive COVID-19 test.
In the 24 hours after the first notification, the school must notify the family of every student in the building that a positive diagnosis has been detected, sending specific notifications to people exposed to the infected person “without disclosing protected health information.”
The school must also report the case to its local health department.
Starting Sept. 15, local health departments will be required to send ODH a weekly report of all new school-associated COVID-19 cases.
ODH will then publish the data once a week, showing how many cases are in each district (or school, if the school is unaffiliated) and how many are students versus staff.
The order has no expiration date.
Read the complete order:
ODH order on school reporting by WCPO Web Team on Scribd
