COVID-19 Alert - December 17
By the Numbers:
Individuals Tested: 7,054,273
88 counties with at least one case
Ages range from less than one year old to 111 years of age, with a median age of 43
State of Ohio COVID-19 dashboard: https://coronavirus.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/covid-19/home/dashboard
Total Cases: 596,178 (38,510 of which are health care workers)
Case Increase in Last 24-Hour Period: 11,412
21 Day Reported Case Average: 10,164
Total Deaths: 7,894
Deaths Reported in Last 24-Hour Period: 117
21 Day Reported Death Average: 77
Total Hospitalizations: 33,745 (5,382 of which are in the intensive care unit)
Hospitalization Increase in last 24-Hour Period: 370
21 Day Reported Hospitalizations Average: 393
County-by-County Update:
The Ohio Department of Health (ODH) shows sustained severe exposure and spread (Purple Level 4) in Richland County. Medina, Portage, Stark, and Summit counties all moved from Purple Level 4 to Red Level 3 this week.
Governor DeWine cautioned that a decrease from Level 4 to Level 3 does not indicate that the situation in these counties is improving, but rather that healthcare indicators, such as hospitalizations, are plateauing at a very critical level.
A county-by-county breakdown outlining the presence of COVID-19 in all of Ohio's 88 counties can be found on the Ohio Public Health Advisory System's website.
Vaccine Update:
Tomorrow, as part of the federal program to vaccinate nursing home residents and staff, facilities in Ohio will be among the first in the nation to receive vaccines through Walgreen’s, CVS, PharmScript, and Absolute Pharmacy. Ohio was invited by the CDC to participate in the scaling up of the federal program.
Travel Advisory:
Those entering Ohio after travel to states reporting positive testing rates of 15% or higher for COVID-19 are advised to self-quarantine for 14 days.
Positivity rate is an indicator of how much COVID-19 there is in a community, and ODH is recommending against travel to those states with high positivity. If someone must travel, ODH is recommending 14 days of self-quarantine after leaving those locations. This advisory is intended for both leisure and business travel and should be heeded by both Ohioans and out-of-state travelers. It is intended as guidance and is not a mandate.