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Ohio's travel advisory list now includes 14 states, including ohio.

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Fourteen states are now included on Ohio's updated travel advisory -- including the state that issued it.

Those entering Ohio after traveling to or coming from these states are advised to self-quarantine for 14 days, officials with the state's health department advised.

All of the states on Ohio's travel advisory system are reporting positives testing rates of 15% or higher, Gov. Mike DeWine said.

This week, the state of Ohio is listed on the state's own travel advisory with a 15% positivity rate.

Based on a seven day rolling average of positivity rates, the affected states as of Dec. 2 are: Idaho (49%); Iowa (43.4%); South Dakota (41.1%); Kansas (40%); Alabama (33%); Pennsylvania (29%); Arizona (23%); Mississippi (22%); Utah (20%); Missouri (19%); Nevada (17%); Montana (15%); Arkansas (15%) and Ohio.

Positivity rate is an indicator of how much COVID-19 there is in a community. The Ohio Department of Health is recommending individuals against traveling to states with a high positivity.

"If someone must travel, ODH is recommending 14 days of self-quarantine after leaving those locations," officials with the state health department said. "This advisory is intended for both leisure and business travel, and should be heeded by both Ohioans and out-of-state travelers."

The advisory is intended as guidance and is not a mandate.

What to Do During Self-Quarantine (per Ohio Department of Health)

• Remain at home and avoid all in-person activities. This includes work, grocery stores and pharmacies, public events and public places.
• If you live in a home with other people who did not travel with you, stay in a separate room. If this is not possible, wear a face mask when you are in the same room and stay at least 6 feet away from others.
• Do not leave home except to seek medical care. If you need to see a provider for reasons other than a medical emergency, please call in advance and discuss the care you need.
• In the event of a medical emergency, call 911. Indicate that you are in home quarantine for novel coronavirus exposure. Keep a face mask on until you are asked by a health care provider to remove it.
• Do not have visitors in your home.
• Do not use public transportation, taxis or ride-shares.

12 states on Ohio's latest COVID-19 travel advisory map

by Jarrod Clay

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WSYX) — The Ohio Department of Health's latest COVID-19 travel advisory includes 12 states that are reporting COVID-19 positivity rates of 15 percent or higher.

Alabama, Iowa, Idaho, Pennsylvania, Kansas, South Dakota, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Utah, Texas, Arkansas, and Virginia are all included on the latest travel advisory list.

Anyone who has traveled to these states is advised to self-quarantine for 14 days upon returning to Ohio.

For the second straight week, Ohio's positivity rate has dropped and is not included on its own travel advisory. Last week , Ohio reported a 13 percent positivity rate. This week, the state is reporting a 12 percent rate.

The Ohio Department of Health said the positivity rate is an indicator of how much COVID-19 there is in a community.

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Death of Frank Tyson, Ohio man who told police 'I can't breathe' has echoes of George Floyd

CANTON, Ohio ‒ Newly released body camera footage shows the arrest of an Ohio man who died during a confrontation with police , which an attorney representing his family said resembled the 2020 murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

Frank Tyson, 53, died April 18 during an encounter with police after he crashed his car and entered a nearby private club. Both Tyson and Floyd said, "I can't breathe," before their deaths.

“The death of George Floyd traumatized and galvanized the American people – it led to a decisive call for change and an end to systemic police violence against Black men," Bobby DiCello, an attorney for the Tyson family, said in a statement released Friday.

"It’s an unimaginable tragedy, that only four years later history repeats itself. Why tackle him? Why kneel on him? How could you know he lost consciousness and then do nothing? These questions demand answers. And so, we will get those answers for Frank and the whole Tyson family in this time of pain, grief, and disbelief," DiCello said.

George Floyd is not alone: 'I can’t breathe' uttered by dozens in fatal police holds across U.S.

What happened to Frank Tyson?

Authorities said Tyson crashed his car, then entered a private club and was acting erratically. Two police officers tried to remove Tyson from the club and took him to the floor during an ensuing scuffle. Tyson, who told people at the club that someone was trying to kill him before officers arrived, yelled, "They're trying to kill me," as officers fought with him.

Police body camera footage released Wednesday by the city shows Tyson facedown on the floor with his arms handcuffed behind his back for nearly eight minutes before an officer realized he couldn't feel a pulse. Officers took the handcuffs off and applied chest compressions for several minutes.

Tyson was subsequently treated by Canton Fire Department paramedics, who took him to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Canton police have turned the investigation of Tyson's death over to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation. Officers Beau Schoenegge and Camden Burch have been placed on administrative leave.

The Stark County Coroner's Office sent Tyson's body to the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner's Office for an autopsy. The cause of death has not been released. The Stark County chapter of the NAACP on Friday posted a message on Facebook, saying the civil rights organization is monitoring the situation.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the family," the group said.

Expert questions Canton police response used on Frank Tyson

Kalfani N. Ture , a former police officer and assistant professor of criminal justice and African American studies at Widener University in Chester, Pennsylvania, said officers should not have left Tyson facedown on the floor for so long after they handcuffed his arms behind his back. Ture said that creates the potential for Tyson to suffocate due to the position of his body, a condition known as positional asphyxiation.

“It takes less than six minutes for a life to expire in the context of a positional asphyxiation situation," Ture said.

Ture, who trains New York City police officers, said the responding officers were also indifferent to Tyson's condition, with one telling him to "calm down." He said the gurgling noises Tyson made while lying on his stomach sounded similar to those made by Floyd .

“Well, you have this gentleman in restraints. He is not kicking. He's trying to lift up ... just to breathe," Ture said.

What is positional asphyxiation?

The U.S. Department of Justice advised law enforcement about positional asphyxia in a June 1995 fact sheet. The federal agency advised officers to "remove the subject from their stomach as soon as they are handcuffed" and monitor them carefully, according to the advisory from the National Institute of Justice, the research, development, and evaluation agency of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Ture, a former city, state and county law enforcement officer, said police are also trained to prevent positional asphyxiation.

“We learned in the police academy, and this is universal," he said. "We all learned about positional asphyxiation. The chest cannot expand against a hard, flat structure. Our stomach and our thoracic cavity expands forward, and if you are in a prone position against a hard structure, you're going to suffocate. You're going to asphyxiate. We are trained that once you secure the person in handcuffs, you immediately sit them up in a resting position."

Since 2000, more than 340 people have died in police custody due to "asphyxia/restraint," according to the  Fatal Encounters database. A USA TODAY investigation found dozens said "I can't breathe" during the fatal restraints.

Contributing: N'dea Yancey-Bragg, USA TODAY

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Ohio's Tree Climbing Championships draws arborists from across the world

CINCINNATI — Ohio’s Tree Climbing Championship took place this Friday and Saturday at Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati. Competitors came from across Ohio and the rest of the world.

What You Need To Know

The competition ran friday and saturday in spring grove cemetery they have separate divisions for men and women climbers one climber came from as far away as sweden to compete .

“I come to learn, to meet people, have a good time, refill my energy and to hang out with awesome people,” said Boel Hammarstrand, an arborist from Sweden. She wouldn’t miss this competition for the world.

“I love the people, I love the trees. The cemetery here is absolutely beautiful and the trees are absolutely amazing,” she said.

Wherever she climbs trees, she always takes at least one unicorn with her.

“I’m the unicorn queen,” she said. “I just embrace the craziness of unicorns”

Hammarstrand also has some crazy skills. One of the events she excels in involves ascending up a tree on a rope without actually touching the tree. 

“It’s the way we normally used to access trees. It’s part of what we do for work,” she said.

Competition organizer and fellow arborist Jay Butcher will tell you that competing makes the arborists better at their jobs.

“Most people leave here significantly safer than they came here because they’re put through a much greater level of scrutiny on what they’re using, how they’re using it the way they communicate,” Butcher said. 

“And just the learning curve, being able to do many of our work practices and learn new techniques and even just being able to practice a rescue,” said competitor Cody Schwartz, who traveled to Ohio from Michigan.

“I can’t technically win Ohio but I come here to train to try to win Michigan and the goal is to make it to an international competition,” he said.

Schwartz has a following on YouTube with his climbing videos and he lives to compete.

“I loved sports in high school and being able to bring my work environment into a sport again is what drives me to keep doing this and I travel all over,” he said.

Regardless of who wins, Schwartz and his fellow climbers say it’s just great being a part of it:

“We’re just a big family,” Schwartz said. “I stay in touch with people from all over Ohio and it’s just seeing the friends from around the world.”

“It’s a great family to be part of and it’s a family for everyone regardless of gender or nationality or anything like that and everyone is welcomed,” said Hammarstrand.

Butcher says it’s more about sharing the love than competing.

“Tree people love tree people,” he said. “We support each other and when we get together, there’s a comradery and a synergy that I’ve just not been around in other places.”

Winners in Ohio will get to compete on the international level later this year.

Oct. 29: Ohio Department of Health releases updated travel advisory map with 9 states

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio Department of Health released its weekly travel advisory map to include nine states where Ohioans are advised against visiting. The nine states included are reporting recent average positive testing rates of 15% or higher for COVID-19.

Based on a 7-day rolling average of positivity rates of Oct. 29, the affected states are:

• South Dakota: 43.4%
• Idaho: 34.8%
• Wisconsin: 28.0%
• Iowa: 26.4%
• Alabama: 25.2%
• Nebraska: 21.8%
• Kansas: 20.8%
• Nevada: 18.9%
• Utah: 18.2%

This week Mississippi and Wyoming are shaded gray because they are showing multiple days in the past week without overall testing volume data, so an accurate positivity rate can’t be calculated.

The advisory is intended for both leisure and business travel, one that the department of health wants Ohioans and out-of-state travelers to follow.

If you have to self-quarantine, these are the following precautions you should take according to the ODH:

• If you live in a home with other people who did not travel with you, stay in a separate room. If this is not possible, wear a face mask when you are in the same room and stay at least six feet away from others.
• Remain at home and avoid all in-person activities. This includes work, grocery stores and pharmacies, public events, and public places.
• Do not leave home except to seek medical care. If you need to see a provider for reasons other than a medical emergency, please call in advance and discuss the care you need.
• In the event of a medical emergency, call 9-1-1. Indicate that you are in home quarantine for novel coronavirus exposure. Keep a face mask on until you are asked by a health care provider to remove it
• Do not have visitors in your home.
• Do not use public transportation, taxis, or ride-shares.

Additional Coronavirus information and resources:

See complete coverage on our Coronavirus Continuing Coverage page.

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Click here for a page with resources including a COVID-19 overview from the CDC, details on cases in Ohio, a timeline of Governor Mike DeWine's orders since the outbreak, coronavirus' impact on Northeast Ohio, and link to more information from the Ohio Department of Health, the Cuyahoga County Board of Health, the CDC and the WHO.

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The CDC and the Ohio Department of Health are now recommending the use of cloth face coverings in public to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Read more about the CDC's recommendation here. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to make a face mask from common household materials, without having to know how to sew.

View a global coronavirus tracker with data from Johns Hopkins University.

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Wells College officials say school closing at semester's end

Wells College's board of trustees has announced the school's closure at the end of this semester following its 156th commencement ceremony.

In a post on the school's website, President Jonathan Gibralter and Board Chair Marie Chapman Carroll said the school "does not have adequate financial resources to continue," having already faced challenges from COVID-19, fewer college students nationwide and other factors.

"Members of the board, many of whom are Wells graduates, have spent years trying to find creative solutions to raise revenues in hopes of avoiding closure, including most recently having conversations with other academic partners," the post read in part. "... But revenues, unfortunately, are not projected to be sufficient for Wells' long-term financial stability."

Wells officials say they have reached "teach-out" agreements with a number of other schools:

• Manhattanville University
• Excelsior University
• Hobart and William Smith Colleges
• Keuka College
• Le Moyne College
• Mercy University
• SUNY Brockport

Manhattanville is listed as Wells' preferred teach-out partner, and Wells officials say the school is developing housing for current Wells students.

This will be the eighth closing, or announced closing, in New York in the last 12 months, which includes the colleges of Cazenovia and St. Rose.

As for the students, we had the chance to catch up with the Bangel brothers earlier today, two twins on the school’s basketball team.

The twins grew up playing basketball together, and came to Wells to continue that dream.

"I was crying a little bit. You know, I picked Wells because it's my dream school. I had everything I wanted and throughout the year about a ton of amazing people. And I was just sad and disappointed, but, on the other side, I was like, 'I got to just start looking forward and seeing what was next,'" said John Bangel, Wells College student.

“We became very close, very fast, and though not be able to see these guys, in school next year, just that over the summer because a lot of them are from afar. It's disappointing, but I know we'll be fine and I know they will be fine as well," said Joe Bangel, Wells College student.

These two students hope to continue both their academic and playing careers at other colleges throughout the state.