T-L Photo/ROBERT A. DEFRANK Belmont County Deputy Health Director Robert Sproul’s concerns were borne out Thursday, when Belmont County’s longtime Level 1 “yellow” status on the state’s color-coded COVID-19 alert system changed to “orange,” or Level 2.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE — The risk of COVID-19 transmission is rising in Belmont County, which was moved from the low-risk yellow level on Ohio’s Public Health Advisory System to the more serious orange level Thursday.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced new color designations for counties across the Buckeye State in his weekly public address. Many counties around Belmont are designated the still more risky red, including Guernsey and Noble counties. No counties in the state have the most serious purple designation.

Cases of the virus have been rising rapidly in Eastern Ohio, according to Belmont County Deputy Health Director Robert Sproul. At the end of the day Thursday, he listed Belmont County’s total coronavirus cases at 835 since the pandemic began, with 722 recoveries and 81 people isolated at home with active cases of the virus. He said seven people are hospitalized, and there have been 25 deaths of county residents who had been infected with COVID-19.

Last Friday, there were 45 active cases and a total of 717 since March.

During his talk, DeWine reaffirmed many of the same concerns statewide that Sproul has noted locally, including lack of mask-wearing and an increase in informal gatherings. Another factor is apparent lack of cooperation during contact tracing.

“It seems to be a similar discussion all around the state,” Sproul said Wednesday.

DeWine said more structured settings, such as schools, have operated without becoming a source of community spread. Belmont County’s results seem to bear this out, with no reported spread from isolated positive cases within the Union Local, Bellaire, Shadyside, Martins Ferry and St. Clairsville-Richland City school districts.

During the Wednesday meeting of the Belmont County Board of Commissioners, Sproul said a transition to the orange Level 2 would chiefly mean new educational measures. He said more will be done to encourage mask-wearing, avoiding large gatherings, staying at home if sick and washing hands frequently, Sproul said in a text message Thursday.

This week, the first positive cases among staff and one inmate at the Belmont County Jail were confirmed. The commissioners asked about this during Wednesday’s meeting.

“They’ve been doing a lot of cleaning,” Sproul said. “They’ve been working hard over there.”

“All precautions have been taken, and they have contacted the health department and are working closely with these folks,” Commissioner Josh Meyer said.

“We took over some additional masks and cleaners for them” Sproul said.

Sproul declined to speculate whether more restrictions might be forthcoming from DeWine.

“There was talk of lifting that 10 p.m. ban on liquor sales at bars. He’d hinted around that. I think he’s backed away from that. It’s going to make him question some things going forward,” Sproul said.

He said there has no word about state restrictions on trick-or-treating during Halloween.

“They’re suggesting to not do it, but if you do it, do it safely,” Sproul said.

Many local communities have scheduled trick-or-treat sessions, mainly on Oct. 31, or other holiday activities.