Masks To Be Optional This Week in Ohio County Schools | News, Sports, Jobs

Photo by Joselyn King
Ohio County Schools Superintendent Kim Miller, left, speaks with Innovation Coordinator JoJo Shay prior to a past board of education meeting.

WHEELING — Mask wearing will be optional this week in Ohio County Schools, as the county climbed to gold on the Department of Health and Human Resources COVID-19 alert map.

The school district announced the development Sunday evening. In a text message to parents, the district said the county was yellow on the map, but the map showed the county was gold Sunday.

Regardless, Ohio County’s COVID status was safe enough to allow for optional mask wearing. In late December, the school board voted to make mask wearing mandatory only if the county were in the two highest-risk categories on the state COVID alert map — orange and red. Gold is one rung above orange and the middle of map’s five categories.

All four Northern Panhandle counties were at least gold on the latest alert map. Hancock County was green, the safest category on the map, while Brooke County was yellow, the second-safest category. Marshall County joined Ohio County in gold.

Hancock County had an infection rate of 31.82 cases per 100,000 residents with a percent positivity of 4.27. Brooke County had an infection rate of 29.95 cases per 100,000 residents and a percent positivity of 5.67.

Ohio County had an infection rate of 47.26 cases per 100,000 residents and a percent positivity of 8.37. Marshall County had an infection rate of 61.30 cases per 100,000 residents and a percent positivity of 11.14.