Cleveland COVID-19 (CORONAVIRUS) UPDATE FOR
MARCH 22, 2020

information as of 3:15 P.M. EDT

CONFIRMED CASES 

In the past 24 hours, Metropolitan Cleveland has confirmed 51 new cases, an increase of 37.8% from yesterday, for a current total of 186 cases, but no new fatalities in the past 24 hours. Also, during the past 24 hours, the number of confirmed cases in Ohio increased by 104 cases, or 42.1%, while the US saw an increase of 8,880 cases, or 40.0%, and the worldwide increase was 31,185 cases, or 10.5%. The higher rate of increase in Ohio vs. the US vs. the world, may be attributable to the number of tests being administered in Ohio compared to the US as whole and the US as a whole finally catching up to other countries in terms of testing. Note, though, that not all persons with symptoms are being tested and some persons may be infected but asymptomatic and untested. Details by geography:

  • Metropolitan Cleveland (Cuyahoga, Lorain, Medina, Summit, Portage, Geauga, and Lake Counties): 186 cases - previous day’s report: 135. Change: 51 new, or 37.8%.

    • Cuyahoga County: 125 cases - previous day’s report: 92. Change: 33 new, 35.9%. Of these cases, 1 fatality total, a 91 year old man.

    • Lorain County: 19 cases - previous day’s report: 14. Change: 35.7%.

    • Medina County: 10 cases - previous day’s report: 9. Change: 11.1%.

    • Summit County: 23 cases - previous day’s report: 15. Change: 53.3%.

    • Portage County:  1 case - previous day’s report: 0. In the past 24 hours, this is the first case confirmed in Portage County.

    • Geauga County:  2 cases - previous day’s report: 1. Change: 100.0%.

    • Lake County: 6 cases - previous day’s report: 4. Change: 50.0%.

  • Ohio cases: 351 - previous day’s report: 247. Change: 104 new cases, or 42.1% Within the last 24 hours, Ohio reported no new fatalities. The number of fatalities in Ohio remains at three: in Lucas, Erie, and Cuyahoga Counties.

  • Ohio hospitalizations: 83; previous day’s report: 58. Change: 43.1.%.

  • US cases: 31,057 - previous day’s report: 22,177. Change: 8,880 new cases, or 40.0%.

  • US fatalities: 390 - previous day’s report: 278. Change: 40.3%.

  • US recoveries: 176, up 29 from 147 yesterday.

  • Worldwide cases: 328,275 - previous day’s report: 297,090. Change: 31,185 new cases, 10.5%. Worldwide excluding the US: 8.1%.

  • Worldwide fatalities: 14,366 - Previous day’s report: 12,755. Change: 12.6%.

  • Worldwide recoveries: 95,656, up 4,116 from yesterday’s 91,540.

Data sources: For City of Cleveland, City of Cleveland; for Ohio and each Ohio county, Ohio Department of Health; for US and World numbers: Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.

“STAY AT HOME” ORDER ISSUED BY THE OHIO DIRector of public health

  • Effective 11:59pm Monday, March 23 until at least 11:59 p.m., April 6. This is MANDATORY, and not “guidance.” The full 12-page, signed order can be seen/downloaded HERE.

  • Persons may leave home for essential activities including taking care of family members and shopping for food and supplies.

  • Restaurants offering carry-out services will remain open; non-essential businesses are to remain closed. The following are considered essential:

    • Grocery stores

    • Gas stations

    • Pharmacies

    • Police stations

    • Fire stations

    • Hospitals, clinics and healthcare operations

    • Garbage/sanitation

    • Public transportation

    • Public benefits (i.e. SNAP, Medicaid) hotlines

  • Residents are allowed to go outside, but should maintain social distancing.

  • Playgrounds are off-limits.

  • You may leave to pick up meals at your child’s school if such is offered.

  • Roads will not be closed, but you should only travel if it is essential to your work or health.

Click here for additional information and an FAQ about this mandatory order or see the full order here.

PUBLIC SUPPORT LINES FOR QUESTIONS/CONCERNS

  • MetroHealth: Dedicated MetroHealth support line for questions/concerns: 440-592-6843 (440-59-COVID)

  • Ohio Department of Health 24/7 hotline: 833-427-5634 (833.4.ASK.ODH)

  • Cuyahoga County Board of Public Health Clinic:  216-201-2041

  • City of Cleveland, Department of Public Health:  See numbers here.

  • US Centers for Disease Control & Prevention: 800-232-4636 (800-CDC-INFO) or website.

DRIVE-THRU CORONAVIRUS TESTING

Drive through testing is offered by the Cleveland Clinic, University Hospitals, and Metro. Testing will not be for anyone simply upon request, as test kits and capacity are still limited. Advanced approval/consultation is required. Testing locations:

  • University Circle:  Cleveland Clinic testing center:  the W.O. Walker Building parking garage, at 10524 Euclid Ave, at E. 105 St. and Euclid Ave., seven days a week. Cleveland Clinic has REDUCED TESTING HOURS. Testing is now only available from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Patients should enter the garage from E. 105th St. A Cleveland Clinic provider’s order is required for testing. The Clinic is prioritizing testing for certain groups, defined as being symptomatic AND of various criteria including age 61 and older, age under 36 months, on immunosuppressive therapy, and several other criteria. For more details, click here.

  • Mayfield Hts: University Hospitals (UH) testing center:  UH Landerbrook Health Center, 5850 Landerbrook Drive, Mayfield Heights. Enter off Cedar Road onto Landerbrook Drive between Cedar and Brainard Roads: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. seven days a week. To receive a COVID-19 test here, you must have a UH physician’s order. UH: “Patients of any age will be tested regardless of ability to pay, and no copays will be charged. To alleviate delays, patients will be assigned a 30-minute time slot to arrive for testing.” More info.

  • MetroHealth:  Results in two hours, but testing supplies and capacity are limited. For more information, call the MetroHealth hotline at 440-592-6843. More info.

METROHEALTH LOCATION CLOSURES

MetroHealth System announced the following location closures (More info):

  • Health Care Centers: Brunswick, Gordon Square (LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland), Medina, Rocky River, and State Road (North Royalton)

  • Discount Drug Mart Sites: Independence, North Royalton, Olmsted Falls, and Parma Heights

MetroHealth is also delivering prescriptions as a complimentary service. For prescription questions, call 216-957-6337 (216-957-MEDS).

NEW UH AND CLEVELAND CLINIC HOSPITAL VISITOR POLICIES

Both University Hospitals and the Cleveland Clinic have new, restricted visitor policies.

  • University Hospitals (UH): “New Visitor Policy: To protect against the spread of COVID-19, all visitors will be screened before entering UH facilities. Visitors who show symptoms of the flu will not be allowed to enter, per CDC guidelines. No visitors will be allowed to see patients who have been confirmed to have COVID-19, are in a UH Seidman Cancer Center, or who are on any general medical floors. Click here for exceptions to this policy. Click here to keep up-to-date on information regarding appointments and other policies.”

  • Cleveland Clinic: “Inpatient Locations: For all hospital locations in Ohio and Florida, we are restricting all visitors. Exceptions will be made for the following patients:

  • Pediatric patients (1 visitor).

  • Labor & Delivery patients (1 visitor).

  • End-of-life circumstances (patient’s care team will discuss with their family).

All other visitors will be asked to leave the hospital.” Details here.

AIRPORTS AND AIR SERVICE

Cleveland Hopkins International (CLE), Cleveland Burke Lakefront (BKL), and Akron-Canton (CAK) remain open. To support reductions throughout its network, United is parking 10-20 737s at Cleveland Hopkins for the foreseeable future. A TSA screener at Hopkins, at Checkpoint “A” Security (also called “North Checkpoint”) tested positive for COVID-19. Per the TSA, the screener’s last shift was from 4am to noon on Saturday, March 14. 

All airlines are reducing service levels—some drastically—check with your airline for specific flights. Known current reductions and changes: 

  • Cleveland Hopkins (CLE): 

    • Effective 12:01am Sunday, March 22, all TSA screening at Hopkins will be at Checkpoint “C” Security (South Checkpoint). TSA-Pre-Check will also be at this location.

    • Brown Lot at Hopkins has temporarily closed; vehicles currently in the lot can exit without charge. The Brown Lot shuttle service ceased today, March 21, at 10:00 a.m. For access to the lot after this time, passengers can use a CLE taxi near baggage claim 11 for free.

    • FAA ground delay programs in effect at Las Vegas (LAS), due to staffing issues at the ATC tower. Currently, average delays into LAS are 3 hours and 5 minutes. There may also be delays into New York-JFK as well as the tower was under “unscheduled cleaning.”

    • AC: Around April 1, Air Canada service to/from Toronto (YYZ) will be suspended as AC US services are reduced per the closure of the US-Canada border to non-essential travel.

    • DL: Reduced service on CLE-Hartford (BDL) and CLE-Raleigh/Durham (RDU).

    • Southwest: After 15 April, CLE-Milwaukee (MKE) will operate on Sundays only.

    • Lounges: While United has suspended operations at some of its lounges, the United Club on Concourse C remains operational at this time.

  • Burke Lakefront (BKL): 

    • Ultimate Air: All BKL-Cincinnati (LUK) flights are suspended until further notice. 

  • Akron-Canton (CAK):  

    • UA: United is suspending EWR-CAK and IAH-CAK.

AMTRAK

Two routes serve Cleveland:

  • Lakeshore Limited: Chicago-Cleveland-New York/Boston: Operating normal service

  • Capitol Limited: Chicago-Cleveland-Pittsburgh-Washington, DC: Operating normal service

LOCAL TRAINS & BUSES

  • Cleveland RTA: The Regional Transit Authority is operating normal service on all trains and buses. RTA states it will “clean every train every 24 hours. RTA will also continue to disinfect buses and paratransit vehicles every 24 hours.” Three Cleveland RTA employees were under quarantine after possible exposure on cruises.  Two RTA employees tested negative; the third developed no symptoms and remains under quarantine. 

  • Laketran: Operating normal service.

  • Akron Metro: Route x60 Akron-Downtown Cleveland is suspended effective Monday, March 23.

SCHOOLS AND SCHOOL MEALS

  • CMSD: All schools remain closed.  From CMSD:  “The District will supply free lunch to go, along with breakfast for the next day, for pickup at 22 elementary schools located strategically across the city. The meals will be distributed Monday through Friday. The food is available to children 18 and younger, even if they are not CMSD students. CMSD will provide yellow bus shuttle service to and from the food pickup sites for those who need transportation. Also, RTA will honor students' bus passes while the schools are closed.” School meal pickup locations and shuttle services details can be found here.

  • Suburban and Non-CMSD Schools in the City: All schools are closed, per order of the State of Ohio. However, meals may continue to be offered. For information and locations on school breakfasts/lunches during the schools shutdown, click here.

GRAB & GO MEALS FOR KIDS

From the City of Cleveland: “The City is partnering with the Children’s Hunger Alliance to temporarily provide meals for youth throughout the city. The new program will last for the next two weeks. Meals are available Saturday, March 21 and Saturday, March 28 from noon to 1 p.m. and Mondays-Fridays from 4-5 p.m. All City recreation centers are participating with the exception of Kovacic, Cudell Fine Arts and Camp Forbes.” Full list of the city’s recreation centers here—including those not participating in the meal program. (The Rec Centers themselves remain closed.)

PARKS

At this time, all parks remain open. However some facilities are closed at the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Details here.

LIBRARIES

  • Cleveland Public Library: Main Library and all branches are closed including its meal program; however, digital and streaming services, including e-books, audiobooks, movies, and music, are still available.

  • Cuyahoga County Public Library: All branches and book drops are closed “through April 5”.

  • Lakewood Public: Main Library and Madison Branch are closed, however the drive-through window at Lakewood’s Main Library will remain open for materials pickup. Patrons can place holds online, call for materials pickup and call the Library with reference questions.

  • Rocky River Public Library:  Closed until further notice.

  • Westlake Public Library: Closed with tentative plans to reopen Monday, April 6.

  • Euclid Public Library:  Closed until further notice.  

  • Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library: Closed until further notice.  

  • Akron-Summit County Public Library system: Closed “until at least Monday, April 6”.

Note: As with CPL, digital services of suburban libraries may still be available. 

ECONOMIC RELIEF BY THE CITY

Mayor Jackson stated Thursday night (19 March) that he will be submitting legislation to City Council on Monday that would authorize the City’s economic development director to defer payment on most loans issued by the city for six months and would assist businesses seeking to obtain deferment on loans issued by other lenders. Details of the Mayor’s plan and information on programs at the state and federal level can be found here.

CITY SERVICES

From the City of Cleveland:

“Continuity of Operations

To help ensure the safety of employees during COVID-19, the City of Cleveland is moving to an essential workforce and will not allow public access to certain city buildings. All employees will be paid as normal.

City Hall will be open Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. for limited public services. Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays, City Hall will be closed.

  • Areas closed to the public, with no available public services:

    • Cleveland City Planning

    • Office of  Equal Opportunity

    • Community Relations

    • Office of Sustainability

    • Office of Quality Control and Performance Management

    • Civil Service

    • Board of Zoning Appeals

    • Board of Building Standard Appeals

    • Mayor’s Office of Capital Projects

    • Community Development

    • Office of Fair Housing & Consumer Affairs

    • Finance

    • Human Resources

    • Law

  • Areas closed to the public, with limited public services:

    • Department of Aging ( some daily senior services will be accessible via phone)

    • Department of Building & Housing

    • Department of Public Health, Office of Vital Statistics

      • Drop-boxes are available. Birth and death certificates will also be available by mail, via phone through VitalChek or online at www.clevelandhealth.org.

      • For funeral homes, death certificates will accepted by mail and e-mail (vitals@city.cleveland.oh.us). The office will be able to issue disposition permits. The City will process requests for copies by mail or through VitalChek. If ordering via telephone, provide VitalChek the license number in order to receive the funeral home rate. 

    • Department of Public Utilities

      • Customers are still able to call in for account services

    • Department of Economic Development

      • Limited services are available by appointment only

    • Division of Taxation

      • Services available via drop box

    • City Prosecutor’s Office

      • Due to the COVID – 19 restrictions, the City Prosecutor’s office will take citizen complaints involving fresh arrests only.  Citizens with complaints that do not involve a fresh arrest are directed not to bring their complaints to the Prosecutor’s Office at this time. Citizens may also access online complaint forms here.  

All public meetings, including boards and commissions will be cancelled. The Mayor’s Office will not issue proclamations or condolence documents to citizens at this time.

[However,] Cleveland City Council will meet on Monday, March 23 for the 7 p.m. Council meeting. Further information will be provided by Cleveland City Council’s Office of Communications.  

  • Department of Public Safety: 

Essential members of the Department of Public Safety will continue to operate at full capacity amid COVID-19 Coronavirus concerns.  Members of the safety forces including Police, Fire and EMS are taking the necessary precautions in order to limit exposure and infection and will continue to do so in order to ensure that they can continue to meet the safety needs of the residents of and visitors to the City of Cleveland. 

Many non-essential members of the Department of Public Safety will NOT report to work.  This determination will be made according to divisional need.  Dispatchers are considered essential personnel. The City Kennel will remain open to the housing and intake of animals and to adoptions in a limited capacity.”

PROCLAMATION OF CIVIL EMERGENCY

On March 11, Mayor Jackson declared a Civil Emergency effective 1300, 11 March until 2359, 31 March 2020, though it may be extended as deemed necessary.

NON-COMPLYING BUSINESSES

Cleveland.com is asking people to identify businesses that are not complying with precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19. They said, “We want to shine a bright light on these companies. Just like with government, sometimes the best way to force change is to drag the wrongdoers into the sunshine.” To anonymously report a business go here.

GloBAL Statistics & Resources

END OF UPDATE

 

Cleveland and COVID-19

This page intends to serve as a central source of information on Cleveland and COVID-19 (Coronavirus). It focuses on health and on public sector and transportation issues and services (and does not cover restaurants, bars, museums, or other public places). It will be updated daily and more frequently if need be.

As the current COVID-19 threat environment is continually changing, some of the information contained here may have changed and/or new developments may have occurred. This page will be updated regularly. Please send any omissions, changes, or corrections to covid19update [at] centerforcleveland.org.