Ohio broadly expanded the criteria for determining who is allowed to get a COVID-19 test to include Ohioans who are showing symptoms of the disease (Source: “New state criteria for coronavirus tests could include a broad group of Ohioans,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, May 28, 2020). Ohio has utilized COVID-19 testing priorities to manage limited testing capacity. Under the guidance of clinical experts, Governor Mike DeWine announced on May 28, 2020, that Ohio has modified these groups in light of changes in testing availability and evolving knowledge of COVID-19 and its impact on Ohioans.
Testing must be first available to individuals described in Priority Groups 1, 2 and 3, but Ohio is expanding to allow partners and communities to test Ohioans in Priority Group 4 which includes testing “Individuals in the community to decrease community spread, including individuals with symptoms who do not meet any of the above categories.” Tests, which had been in short supply, were previously reserved for people who were hospitalized, worked in health care, were elderly, or had underlying medical conditions that made them vulnerable to COVID-19.
“Expanded test availability will allow individuals in lower-risk tiers to be tested and to help further contain and respond to COVID-19 in Ohio,” said Gov. DeWine.
The Ohio Department of Health was one of the last states to receive working testing kits from the federal government. Since then, testing capacity has slowly increased, but is still low compared to other states, territories, and Washington, D.C.
As of May 28, just over 357,000 Ohioans had been tested for COVID-19. Ohio was ninth lowest in the country for its testing rate per 100,000 people—just 2,992, according to Johns Hopkins University’s COVID-19 testing data. Rhode Island leads the nation, with 13,088 tests per 100,000 people, followed by New York at 9,270 and North Dakota at 8,860.