COVID-19 Alert - December 23

By the Numbers:

• Individuals Tested: 7,350,763

• 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: 644,822 (41,262 of which are health care workers)

• Case Increase in Last 24-Hour Period: 7,790

• 21 Day Reported Case Average: 9,852

• Total Deaths: 8,361

• Deaths Reported in Last 24-Hour Period: 109

• 21 Day Reported Death Average: 80

• Total Hospitalizations: 36,025 (5,640 of which are in the intensive care unit)

• Hospitalization Increase in last 24-Hour Period: 431

• 21 Day Reported Hospitalizations Average: 388

County-by-County Update:

• Governor DeWine announced 7,790 new cases in Ohio, which is below average for the past 3 weeks but is still at the elevated level we’ve seen since mid-November. In addition, there are 109 deaths, 431 new hospitalizations, and 52 ICU admissions. The top 20 counties by occurrence:

• The state has developed a new map to show cases per capita over time. It has shown that even counties with the highest incidence in August are lower than where the lowest counties are now.

• Another new map, showing ICU admissions over time, has also been developed. This map shows each Hospital Preparedness Region and what % of the ICU patient population are COVID patients. At the start of Aug, around 1 in 8 ICU patients statewide had COVID. Now, it’s approximately 1 in 3.

Older Ohioans, Young People with Severe Inherited or Developmental Disorders & In-person Schools will be Next to get Vaccines:

• The next broad category of people eligible to be vaccinated will be older Ohioans age 65+. The below chart shows that these Ohioans make up just under 87% of the COVID-19 deaths in Ohio. The Governor is still working to determine the logistics of how the vaccines will be distributed.

• In addition, the state will also begin offering vaccines to younger people with severe inherited or developmental disorders that make them particularly vulnerable -- for example, Sickle Cell or Down Syndrome.

• Finally, Governor DeWine also announced that it is his priority to get all of Ohio’s children in grades K-12 back in the classroom for in-person learning and will therefore make the vaccine available to the schools to accomplish the goal of getting kids back to class. All adults in the schools would also have the ability to get a vaccine. The goal is to start this phase around the middle of January.

 Stay Safe Protocol Reminder:

• The Ohio Department of Health (ODH) Chief Medical Officer told Ohioans that we cannot afford to let the virus spread in Ohio get worse and not to let your guard down. He said the holidays just have to be different this year to protect ourselves and those we love.

• Further, he reminded Ohioans to abide by the Stay Safe Ohio Protocol and that the virus can spread between people even if they have no symptoms.

BWC Delivering 23 M Ohio-Made Masks:

• Lt. Gov. Husted announced that the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation will send out 23 M Ohio-made masks to support Ohio’s workforce. This is in addition to the nearly 23 M masks they sent out over the summer and fall.