COVID-19 Alert - November 5

By the Numbers:

• Individuals Tested: 4,682,517

• 88 counties with at least one case

• Ages range from less than one year old to 109 years of age, with a median age of 41

• State of Ohio COVID-19 dashboard: https://coronavirus.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/covid-19/home/dashboard

• Total Cases: 235,170 (22,375 of which are health care workers)

• Case Increase in Last 24-Hour Period: 4,961

• 21 Day Reported Case Average: 2,825

• Total Deaths: 5,461

• Deaths Reported in Last 24-Hour Period: 33

• 21 Day Reported Death Average: 20

• Total Hospitalizations: 20,015 (3,969 of which are in the intensive care unit)

• Hospitalization Increase in last 24-Hour Period: 214

• 21 Day Reported Hospitalizations Average: 152

Record Breaking Cases and Hospitalizations:

• Ohio is once again breaking records with regard to COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.

  • Between yesterday and today, health officials have reported a total of 4,961 new positive cases, the highest number of new cases in a 24-hour period to date.

  • In addition, 86% of Ohioans are now living in a Red Alert Level 3 county. According to Governor DeWine, there have been enough cases during the past two weeks that the risk of catching this virus in all 88 counties is very real and very concerning.

• There are currently 2,075 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 which is a 55% increase in hospitalized patients compared to two weeks ago.

  • Of the hospitalized patients, 541 people are in intensive care. The previous record for intensive care admissions was 533 in April.

• Governor DeWine stressed that the new record number of cases is not due to increased testing capacity in the state. Since September 24, the total number of tests in Ohio has increased by approximately 44%, but positive cases have increased 280 percent in the same time period. Moreover, if a person is tested multiple times, they are only counted once.

Travel Advisory Update:

• Positivity rate is an indicator of how much COVID-19 there is in a community, and the ODH is recommending against travel to those states with high positivity. If someone must travel, ODH recommends 14 days of self-quarantine after leaving those locations. The advisory is for both leisure and business travel and should be heeded by Ohioans and out-of-state travelers. However, it is intended as guidance and is not a mandate.

New Ohio Department of Health Structure:

• Governor DeWine announced multiple key additions to the existing administration at the Ohio Department of Health (ODH).

• Chief Medical Officer Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff:

  • Dr. Vanderhoff previously served for more than a decade as a Senior Vice President and as the Chief Medical Officer at OhioHealth. He has years of experience leading large teams in successfully dealing with important healthcare issues in Ohio and prepared OhioHealth to deal with the threat of Ebola and the H1N1 flu pandemic.

• Director Stephanie McCloud:

  • Director McCloud previously served as Governor DeWine's administrator of the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation (BWC), managing an agency of 1,800 colleagues and over $28 billion in assets. She has considerable experience in the area of mental health and addiction treatment which is a priority in Ohio's health improvement plan.

• Senior Deputy Lance Himes:

  • Himes previously served as the interim director of ODH where he has played an integral role in running and managing many aspects of the pandemic response operation. He will lead the coordination of the state’s vaccine distribution plan and will continue to work directly with Ohio’s local health commissioners.

• Chief of Staff Kathleen Madden:

  • Madden previously served as Assistant Director at the Ohio Office of Budget and Management and will now play a key role in keeping ODH's pandemic and non-pandemic programs and operations on track. She will work to prioritize and resolve critical issues, provide oversight and guidance to ODH staff, and ensure that ODH funds are spent responsibly and strategically.

New Ohio BWC Administrator:

• Governor DeWine also announced that John Logue, the current Chief of Strategic Direction of Ohio BWC, will become the new administrator of Ohio BWC effective November 16.

• Logue has worked for 26 years in the industry. Before returning to BWC in 2019, he most recently served as the vice president of client services for International Absence Management Company where he focused on Ohio workers’ compensation.