Even though the Ohio Public Health Advisory System downgraded Hamilton County from level three (red) to level two (orange) when it comes to the COVID-19 outbreak, county officials said they are still planning on more testing in targeted areas.
"We know that these congregate settings are uniquely difficult to deal with," Denise Driehaus, president of the Hamilton County Board of County Commissioners, said.
In order to help handle COVID-19 in certain targeted areas, Driehaus said the county will use about $19 million to bring more testing to those locations. The $19 million comes from the $142 million in CARES Act funding that the county received earlier this year.
"It's a lot of money," Driehaus said. "We are targeting vulnerable populations. We’re targeting congregate settings. We are targeting hot spots throughout the county.”
The plan is for the pop-up testing sites to continue for the next several weeks, and then the county will move toward testing in more concentrated areas by the beginning of September. There is no word yet on exact addresses of where the testing sites will be.
