More than 4,000 COVID patients hospitalized in Ohio for 3rd straight day

More than 4,000 people with COVID-19 were hospitalized in Ohio for the third day in a row.

The state had 4,214 patients with COVID in the hospital Monday, according to the Ohio Department of Health. Of the hospitalized coronavirus patients, 1,079 were in the ICU and 681 were on ventilators.

The last time Ohio had more than 4,000 COVID patients hospitalized was in mid January as the state was beginning to recover from its winter surge.

“These numbers are comparable to what we were experiencing at the peak of our in the fall surge,” ODH Director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff said last week. “...The last time more Ohioans were being treated in the hospital for COVID was all the back on Jan. 12 when 4,000 patients were hospitalized across the state.”

One in five hospital patients and one in three ICU patients have COVID-19 in Ohio, according to the Ohio Hospital Association.

COVID has increased 11% in the last week and 53% in the past three weeks in the state’s hospitals. In ICUs, the virus is up 9% in the past week and 35% in the last three weeks. Compared to 60 days ago, COVID increased 24% in Ohio’s hospitals and 15% in its ICUs, according to OHA.

The state recorded 177 hospitalizations and 14 ICU admissions in the last day, according to ODH. Ohio’s 21-day average is 262 hospitalizations and 24 ICU admissions a day.

ODH reported 4,922 cases on Monday. It’s the first time since Nov. 28 that the state has recorded fewer than 5,000 cases a day. Ohio is averaging 6,072 cases a day in the last three weeks and 7,493 cases a day in the last week.

Vanderhoff said the recent spike in cases could be from the holidays, but noted the state could see more cases in the following days as people begin to show symptoms and get tested.

“It comes on top of already a very large number of cases and a growing number of cases that we’ve been watching for a period of weeks,” he said. “No part of the state that is protected or immune from this impact.”

According to preliminary data from the state health department, all of the PCR samples Ohio conducted genomic sequencing on from Nov. 5-20 were attributed to the delta variant.

Ohio is able to use genomic sequencing on PCR COVID-19 tests to determine which variants are in the state. There must be enough of the sample left over from testing and a high viral load for the state to be able to sequence the sample. Results can take about three or four weeks.

From Oct. 24 through Nov. 6, 99.48% of the samples sequenced were attributed to the delta variant, according to ODH. The remaining 0.52% was classified as other. Ohio classifies variants that are not a variant of interest, concern or high consequence as other.

A variant of high consequence is the highest level of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention classification and a variant of interest is the lowest, according to ODH.

As of Monday, 6.81 million Ohioans have started the COVID-19 vaccine. More than 58.25% of residents, including 68.78% of adults and 61.97% of those 5 and older, have received at least one shot.

More than 6.25 million residents have completed the shot, attributing to about 53.5% of Ohio’s population. More than 64% of adult Ohioans and 56.84% of those 5 and older have finished the vaccine, according to ODH.

Nearly 1.875 millions Ohioans have received an additional dose of the COVID vaccine.

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