COVID cases drop as hospitalizations continue to decline in Ohio

Coronavirus cases dropped in Ohio over the past week as the state continues to report a decrease in hospitalizations.

Last Thursday cases increased in Ohio for the first time in approximately a month. The 21,731 weekly cases reported Thursday is about 3,500 fewer cases than reported on Sept. 1, according to the Ohio Department of Health.

Thursday marked the third straight week hospitalizations decreased in the state. Ohio reported 575 hospitalizations in the last week compared to 604 hospitalizations the previous week.

During a press conference Thursday morning, ODH Director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff noted despite weekly cases remaining above 20,000, most people were not getting seriously ill. Coronavirus patients accounted for fewer than 5% of hospital beds and 3.8% of ICU beds in the state, according to ODH.

As of Thursday, there were 1,150 people hospitalized with COVID in Ohio, including 91 people in west central Ohio and 170 in southwest Ohio, according to the Ohio Hospital Association.

Inpatients increased by 8% in the past week, but dropped by 1% over the last 60 days in southwest Ohio, which includes Butler, Warren, Hamilton, Adams, Brown, Clermont and Clinton counties.

West central Ohio reported a 15% increase in hospitalized COVID patients compared to last week as well as a 15% increase from 60 days ago, according to OHA. The region is made up of Champaign, Clark, Darke, Greene, Miami, Montgomery, Preble and Shelby counties.

Of the 156 coronavirus patients in Ohio’s ICUs Thursday, 27 were in southwest Ohio and eight were in west central Ohio.

For west central Ohio, it’s the same amount of COVID ICU patients as last week, but an 11% decrease over the last 60 days.

Southwest Ohio reported a 13% increase in the past week and a 69% increase in the last 60 days, according to OHA.

In the past week. the state recorded 37 ICU admissions, down from the 39 reported on Sept. 1, according to the state health department.

Eighty-six coronavirus deaths were reported in the past week, bringing Ohio’s total to 39,576.

More than 7.45 million people in the state have started the COVID vaccine and 6.9 million have finished it. A message posted to the ODH website stated the company responsible for Ohio’s vaccine registry was having issues collecting data, leading to artificially low numbers on Thursday.

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