One in four patients in the state’s hospitals and one in three ICU patients have coronavirus, according to the Ohio Hospital Association.
Earlier this month, Gov. Mike DeWine announced he would deploy more than 1,000 Ohio National Guard members to help hospitals across the state with the surge in patients. The first deployments started in northern Ohio, but about 70 Guard members were expected to begin working at Mount Carmel East Hospital in Columbus this week.
Ohio’s COVID patients increased 9% in the last week and 21% in past three weeks. The number of coronavirus patients in the state’s ICUs decreased by 1% in past week but is up 8% in the last three weeks.
Compared to 60 days ago, the number of COVID patients hospitalized in Ohio has more than doubled. Coronavirus hospitalizations have increased by 124% in 60 days and ICU admissions are up 72%, according to OHA.
Ohio added 444 COVID hospitalizations and 42 ICU admissions Tuesday, according the state health department. The state’s 21-day average is 312 hospitalizations a day and 31 ICU admissions a day.
For the second time in a week more than 15,000 new cases were recorded in a day. Ohio reported 15,403 cases Tuesday and 15,989 cases on Thursday.
Ohio is averaging 10,076 cases a day in the last three weeks and 12,525 cases a day in the past week.
Health experts suspected a rise in cases would continue across the country because of holiday gatherings and the spread of the omicron variant, which is more easily transmitted. They urged people to get vaccinated, or take the booster if already vaccinated, plus wear masks and distance when possible.
The state added 60 COVID deaths on Tuesday, bringing Ohio’s total to 28,780, according to ODH.
Death data can fluctuate because other state’s don’t regularly report death certificate information to Ohio’s Bureau of Vital Statistics. The day a death is reported does not reflect the day a death occurred.
As of Tuesday, 59.55% of Ohioans have started the COVID vaccine, including 69.84% of adults and 63.29% of people 5 and older. Nearly 55% of residents, including 64.84% of adults and 58.62% of those 5 and older, have finished the vaccine, according to ODH.
More than 6.96 million Ohioans have received at least one dose and 6.4 million have completed the vaccine series. More than 2.56 million residents have received an additional shot, including 26,977 who got an extra dose in the last day.
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