Ohio, local COVID hospitalizations continue decline

The number of Ohioans hospitalized with COVID-19 is continuing to decline locally and statewide.

For west central Ohio, there were 436 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in one of the region’s hospitals, or about 1 in 5 inpatients. This includes Preble, Montgomery, Greene, Darke, Miami, Clark, Shelby and Champaign counties.

Compared to 21 days ago, the number of COVID-19 patients in west central Ohio hospitals has fallen 31%.

For southwest Ohio, there were 705 inpatients who were COVID-19 positive, also about 1 in 4 patients. This includes Butler, Warren, Clinton Hamilton, Clermont, Brown and Adams counties.

Compared to 21 days ago, the number of COVID-19 patients in southwest Ohio hospitals has fallen 30%.

Statewide, there were 3,464 COVID positive hospital inpatients as of Thursday afternoon, including 700 in the ICU, according to data from the Ohio Hospital Association.

That breaks down to:

  • About 1 in 6 inpatients in Ohio’s hospitals are COVID-19 positive, according to the Ohio Hospital Association.
  • About 1 in 5 patients in an Ohio ICU are COVID-19 positive.
  • Compared to 21 days ago, the number of COVID-19 patients in Ohio hospitals has declined 46% statewide.

Ohio reported 5,737 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday.

The 21-day average of reported new cases is 15,953, according to the Ohio Department of Health.

Ohio Department of Health reports 33,537 state residents have died from COVID-19 over the pandemic, though that is preliminary data and some information is received on a delay.

About 7.17 million Ohioans have at least started a COVID-19 vaccine, or an estimated 61% of the state population. The vaccination rate ranges widely by region, from 66% in Warren County to a little under 40% in Darke County.

Also, a little under 3.28 million fully vaccinated Ohioans have received an additional dose.

Hospitalizations, cases, and vaccination rates all vary widely from community to community, with more detail at coronavirus.ohio.gov.

On Feb. 1, about 14.6% of daily recorded COVID-19 PCR and rapid tests were coming back positive, with a little over 36,313 total tests ran that day in Ohio. The percent of tests detecting the coronavirus has been declining in recent weeks, similar to the decline in COVID-19 hospitalizations.