On Tuesday, Fayette County Public Health (FCPH) reported a seventh COVID-19 related death in the county.

The community member who passed away was a female in her 70s. No further information is being released, according to FCPH, which asked for the family’s privacy to be respected during this time.

Fayette County recently moved to a level three (red) emergency in the Ohio Public Health Advisory System (OPHAS) due to the number of increased positive cases. Although the county was first in the state for high occurrence of new cases late last week, it is now the second highest, according to FCPH.

On Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine’s Twitter account, the following was posted on Tuesday: “The numbers continue to go up: Athens, Fayette, Putnam Mercer, Darke — all of these counties are off the charts when it comes to @CDCgov’s definition of high incidence.”

As of Tuesday, FCPH reported a total of 98 active cases in Fayette County. That total includes 28 confirmed cases and four probable cases that emerged within the past four days.

Overall, there have been 373 cases with 268 recovered.

Of those cases, 43 have been hospitalized. As of Tuesday, there were 13 community members hospitalized due to COVID-19.

There are 236 individuals being monitored who were within close contact of an ill person.

Answers to frequently asked COVID-19 questions can be found on the FCPH website, www.faycohd.org/.

According to a graphic shared by FCPH on social media, common symptoms of COVID-19 include fever or chills, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, sore throat, loss of taste or smell, congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, and diarrhea. Symptoms may be mild or severe and may appear 2-14 days following exposure to the virus.

A COVID-19 self checker can be found on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website, www.cdc.gov/.

Reach journalist Jennifer Woods at 740-313-0355 or on Twitter @JennMWoods.