Coronavirus: Ohio reports fewer than 1,000 new cases Saturday

Nurses at Dayton Children's Hospital administer antigen test in their parking lot Tuesday Dec. 8, 2020. The hospital stated that results are available in four hours or less “which can help speed up isolation of contagious individuals and contact tracing, in the hopes of slowing the spread of the virus in our community.”

Credit: JIM NOELKER

Credit: JIM NOELKER

Nurses at Dayton Children's Hospital administer antigen test in their parking lot Tuesday Dec. 8, 2020. The hospital stated that results are available in four hours or less “which can help speed up isolation of contagious individuals and contact tracing, in the hopes of slowing the spread of the virus in our community.”

Ohio has reported just over 900 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, the fifth time in the past 21 days the state has reported fewer than 1,000 new cases in a day.

The Ohio Department of Health reported 919 cases on Saturday, bringing total reported cases to 1,090,276 cases and the 21-day case average to 1,278 cases per day.

Currently, just under 850 people are hospitalized with COVID-19, the Ohio Hospital Association reported. As of Saturday, 843 people, or about one in 22 patients, have tested positive for the coronavirus. In southwest Ohio, 176 people are currently hospitalized with COVID-19. In the past 24 hours, 42 people have been hospitalized, the ODH reported.

In the past 24 hours, 28,884 people started their coronavirus vaccine dose, bringing the Ohio population with at least one dose to 4,963,118 people, or 42.46% of the population, the ODH reported. Just over 38,000 people completed their vaccine dose in the past 24 hours, bringing the fully vaccinated population to 4,358,565 people, or 37.29 percent of the population.

Ohio mask requirements for the fully vaccinated will be largely dropped, in line with new CDC guidance and more than two weeks ahead of the scheduled expiration of Ohio’s pandemic mandates, Gov. Mike DeWine announced Friday afternoon.

The announcement came just two days after DeWine shared that the mask and social distancing orders would all expire June 2, and one day after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised that it’s generally safe for the fully vaccinated to be unmasked indoors.

“Ohio will be amending our remaining health orders to comply with the new CDC guidance, which says that those who have been vaccinated no longer need to wear masks, while those who have not been vaccinated should still wear a mask and socially distance,” DeWine said.

About the Author