Article

“This is not a drill folks.” 19,926 COVID-19 cases, 664 deaths in Cuyahoga County

Community Solutions Team
Transforming data into progress
Additional Contributors
No items found.
November 23, 2020
Read time:
Download Fact Sheets
Register now
Share this resource
Subscribe to our Newsletter
By subscribing you agree to with our Privacy Policy.
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
Download this as a PDF

Cuyahoga County held a briefing on November 20, updating residents and the media about the number and rate of COVID-19 cases in the county.  

“This is not a drill, folks,” Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish remarked as he opened the briefing. On Wednesday, November 18, Budish and the City of Cleveland’s Mayor Frank Jackson and local health professionals announced a stay-at-home advisory for all Cuyahoga County residents. And Cuyahoga isn’t the only county to issue one. Lucas, Franklin, Montgomery, Medina and Summit counties have also issued stay-at-home advisories. “The virus is becoming more and more visible to us,” he pointed out, stressing the importance of limiting activities to essential errands and tasks. The surge in virus cases has health officials, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), asking people to cancel their plans to host or visit large Thanksgiving gatherings and to have Thanksgiving with those who live their households.

 The surge in virus cases has health officials, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), asking people to cancel their plans to host or visit large Thanksgiving gatherings.

Recognizing the pandemic's effect on local businesses and residents, Budish announced two programs designed to help. The first program, the Small Business Stabilization Fund, is a $4.3 million grantmaking fund administered by Cleveland Neighborhood Progress, which will help small businesses struggling to make ends meet. Applications for this fund will go live on Monday, November 23, at 10 a.m. and close at 5 p.m. on Thursday, December 3. To learn more about the program, visit Cuyahogacounty.us/stabilizationfund or call to apply at 216-452-9714.  

The second program is the Utility Assistance Program, which CHN Housing Partners administers. The program will help residents affected by COVID-19 receive help paying their utilities including electricity, gas, water & sewer. The funding is income-based and is available until December 31. Visit CuyahogaCounty.us/assistance or call 833-377-7368 to learn more.  

Wrapping up his remarks, Budish discussed another critical issue affecting many in the community—mental health. Jails and prisons have become de facto mental health facilities. Budish announced that moving forward, for those with a mental illness who call the police for help, instead of going to jail, they would go to a diversion center. The center, which Budish said Cuyahoga County will open in the first quarter of 2021, will be a place for crisis intervention, stabilization and treatment. The diversion center will be supervised by the Alcohol, Drug Addiction & Mental Health Services of Cuyahoga County (ADAMHS Board) and operated by Oriana House. Budish announced the center will be located at East 55th and Euclid Avenue, that it will have 50 beds and provide treatment for individuals for up to nine days. He also said that professionals at the center will be able to provide referrals for longer-term treatment. The ADAMHS Board will also provide crisis intervention training to police officers. Community Solutions wrote extensively earlier this year about the need for a diversion center in Cuyahoga County, read that full report here.

 All 88 counties in Ohio reported a high incidence of spread as defined by the CDC.

Following Budish was Cuyahoga County Board of Health (CCBH) Commissioner Terry Allen. Statewide, Allen said, positive COVID-19 cases have increased by nearly 300 percent in the past month. At the time of the briefing, all 88 counties in Ohio reported a high incidence of spread as defined by the CDC. On Friday, Allen reported, 750 cases of COVID-19 were reported to CCBH, an all-time high for the health district and a significant increase from the 520 cases a day that were reported last week. Due to the surge, CCBH staff has been forced to triage cases and contact only those with the highest risk levels.  

“We have a duty and obligation as public health professionals to do all that we can to protect our communities,” Allen commented as he reiterated Budish’s statement regarding Thanksgiving and the stay-at-home advisory. Allen asked residents to spend the holiday with just the family in their households, wash their hands, use masks to cover both noses and mouths, and work remotely if possible. If you test positive, isolate immediately for 10 days and contact everyone you’ve been in contact with within six feet and for 15 minutes or more, letting them know that they need to quarantine for 14 days. For those who test negative while in quarantine, Allen emphasized they need to maintain quarantine for the full 14 days due to the possibility of becoming positive and infectious and spreading it to others during that 14-day window.

 For the week of November 14, the county had 19,926 total cases of COVID-19.

Following Allen, CCBH Medical Director Dr. Heidi Gullett provided the county's latest COVID-19 numbers. For the week of November 14, not including Cleveland's number of COVID-19 related cases, the county had 19,926 total cases of COVID-19, 1,186 hospitalizations, 439 intensive care unit admissions, 664 deaths and 14,562 people presumed recovered. In two 24-hour periods, the county had nearly 1,400 cases of COVID-19, and officials say it's overwhelming the system.  

There will not be a briefing on Friday, November 27 due to the holiday.

Download Fact Sheets

Ohio Statewide Data

Download

Wood County

Download

Wyandot County

Download

Williams County

Download

Washington County

Download

Vinton County

Download

Wayne County

Download

Warren County

Download

Van Wert County

Download

Union County

Download

Tuscarawas County

Download

Stark County

Download

Summit County

Download

Trumbull County

Download

Shelby County

Download

Seneca County

Download

Scioto County

Download

Ross County

Download

Sandusky County

Download

Richland County

Download

Putnam County

Download

Huron County

Download

Portage County

Download

Preble County

Download

Pike County

Download

Pickaway County

Download

Perry County

Download

Noble County

Download

Paulding County

Download

Ottawa County

Download

Morrow County

Download

Muskingum County

Download

Morgan County

Download

Montgomery County

Download

Meigs County

Download

Monroe County

Download

Miami County

Download

Mercer County

Download

Marion County

Download

Madison County

Download

Medina County

Download

Mahoning County

Download

Lucas County

Download

Lorain County

Download

Logan County

Download

Licking County

Download

Lawrence County

Download

Lake County

Download

Holmes County

Download

Jackson County

Download

Knox County

Download

Jefferson County

Download

Hocking County

Download

Henry County

Download

Highland County

Download

Harrison County

Download

Hancock County

Download

Hardin County

Download

Greene County

Download

Geauga County

Download

Guernsey County

Download

Hamilton County

Download

Gallia County

Download

Fayette County

Download

Fulton County

Download

Franklin County

Download

Fairfield County

Download

Erie County

Download

Darke County

Download

Defiance County

Download

Coshocton County

Download

Delaware County

Download

Cuyahoga County

Download

Crawford County

Download

Columbiana County

Download

Clinton County

Download

Clermont County

Download

Clark County

Download

Champaign County

Download

Carroll County

Download

Athens County

Download

Ashtabula County

Download

Brown County

Download

Butler County

Download

Belmont County

Download

Auglaize County

Download

Ashland County

Download

Allen County

Download

Adams County

Download

Lake County

Download

Geauga County

Download

Cuyahoga County

Download

All Municipalities Geauga County

Download

All Municipalities Lake County

Download

All Municipalities Cuyahoga County

Download

Thompson

Download

South Russell

Download

Russell

Download

Parkman

Download
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
Download report

Subscribe to our newsletter

5 Things you need to know arrives on Mondays with the latest articles, events, and advocacy developments in Ohio

Explore the fact sheets

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique.

No Related Fact Sheets

Explore Topics

Browse articles, research, and testimony.

Poverty & Safety Net
Article

A look at the Ohio House-passed version of the state budget

Community Solutions Team
April 28, 2025
Medicaid
Article

What’s at stake in Ohio? Reimagining the new Medicaid

Brandy Davis
April 28, 2025
Poverty & Safety Net
Article

Eighteen health and human service levies in May election

Kyle Thompson
April 28, 2025
Maternal & Infant Health
Article

Infant and early childhood mental health: Bridging gaps and ensuring early intervention

Tamikka James-Haygood
April 28, 2025
Poverty & Safety Net
Article

Connecting with legislators at Policy Advocacy Days

Kyle Thompson
April 21, 2025
Poverty & Safety Net
Article

AIDS Funding Collaborative community briefing at The Centers on April 29th

Julie Patterson
April 21, 2025