Ohio reports more than 500 daily cases as health officials warn of new wave

Nearly 550 daily cases of coronavirus were reported in Ohio Monday as health officials shared concerns about a new wave in the pandemic.

The state recorded 543 cases in the last day, according to the Ohio Department of Health. It’s the ninth time in the last 21 days Ohio has reported more than 500 cases in a day.

Over the last three weeks the state is averaging 483 cases a day, but in the last week Ohio is averaging 696.85 cases a day.

“After a period of steady decline we continue to see a pattern of covid-19 cases rising again in Ohio,” ODH Chief Medical Officer Bruce Vanderhoff said Monday.

As of Thursday, Ohio reported 45.8 cases per 100,000 people over a two-week period. That’s up from the 27 cases per 100,000 people reported on July 15 and the17.6 cases per 100,000 reported on July 7.

“All signs point toward this increase of cases being the delta variant, which is more contagious that the B.1.1.7 or alpha variant the proceeded it,” Vanderhoff said. “It simply takes less of this virus to spread from the mouth or the nose of an infected persons to that of another non-infected person.”

All three vaccines available in the U.S. offer protection from covid-19 and the delta variant.

As of Monday, 5,717,753 people in Ohio have received at least one dose of the vaccine and 5,347,696 have finished it, according to ODH.

Hospitalizations were above Ohio’s 21-day average Monday, with 59 reported in the last day compared to the average of 39 a day.

Eight ICU admissions were reported Monday, bringing Ohio’s total to 8,434 during the pandemic, according to the state health department. In the last three weeks, Ohio averaged five ICU admissions a day.

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