Governor DeWine announced that 23 Ohio counties are currently under a level 3 – or red – health alert related to COVID-19, an increase from last week.

And one northwest Ohio county is close to reaching the highest alert level.

The governor said that Allen County has also been upgraded to a watchlist, meaning that they have met indicators to be raised to level 4 but are given one week to contain cases.

Other counties upgraded to a red alert this week are: Hardin, Clark, Defiance, Erie, Henry, Lawrence, Marion and Medina.

Since last week, Wood, Butler, Lorain and Summit Counties have been downgraded from level 3.

Hancock County has been upgraded to a level 2 while Wood County has been downgraded to level 2.

When the map was created, counties at a level 3 had to require face masks.

A statewide mask order goes into effect Thursday at 6 p.m.

See the full alert level map here.