March 12 - 15, 2020 Updates
March 15 State update: Order closing bars and prohibiting dining-in at restaurants
On March 15, 2020, Governor Mike DeWine and Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Amy Acton announced an Order to limit the sale of food and beverages, liquor, beer and wine to carryout and delivery only. The Order will close all bars and prohibit dining-in at restaurants. No onsite consumption is permitted. See the Health Director’s Order.
March 15 City update: City Council meeting information for Monday 3/16/2020
The March 16, 2020 Worthington City Council meeting will include discussion and information about the COVID-19 pandemic and Worthington’s response to assist and support the community and City staff through this crisis. Columbus Public Health Commissioner Dr. Mysheika Roberts will give a status update and share information about the public health response and orders as they relate to the Worthington community. Columbus Public Health serves as Worthington’s contracted health agency.
In addition, City Council is considering emergency legislation to give the City Manager broader authority to take necessary organizational and financial action during this crisis.
The meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. at the Worthington Municipal Building, 6550 N. High Street. However, due to social distancing advice, we encourage the public to watch the meeting as it happens live on our website. https://www.worthington.org/live If you are unable to watch live, the meeting video will be archived and we will post links from our social media and website.
March 14 update: Columbus Public Health announces Columbus Case
Columbus Public Health (CPH) has announced a Columbus man has tested positive for COVID-19. This is the only confirmed case in the CPH jurisdiction, which includes Worthington. Read CPH news release
March 13 update: Public Health Emergency Declared
The Columbus Board of Health has declared a public health emergency in Worthington and Columbus. The declaration puts additional safety measures in place to protect the public during the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic and provides health officials with more authority to enforce public health orders. Columbus Health Commissioner Dr. Mysheika Roberts can quarantine and isolate individuals, take additional steps to legally enforce quarantine and testing orders, and control public areas and hotspot zones if it becomes necessary.
“Our public health response to COVID-19 is multi-layered, and we are building on yesterday’s orders of the state to use all the tools available to us to limit the spread of this highly infectious disease,” said Dr. Roberts. “While we don’t need these emergency powers now, it’s important to have them in place before we need them. This is part of our planning and preparation to protect the health and safety of our community.”
March 12 update: Governor Dewine orders mass events cancelled and closes schools
On March 12, 2020, Governor DeWine declared that all schools be closed through at least April 3rd. In addition, all events of 100 people or more are cancelled, with a few exceptions. Read the full Order here. State officials and health experts also advised that it’s important to practice social distancing, to minimize the risk of exposure. High-risk groups, such as adults over 60 and those with underlying health conditions are at particular risk.