Ohio breaks records for COVID patients hospitalized, new daily cases

More than 5,300 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized in Ohio on Wednesday, the most reported in the state during the entire pandemic.

The state had 5,356 coronavirus patients in its hospitals, with 1,228 admitted to ICUs and 757 on ventilators, according to the Ohio Department of Health. It is the third day in a row more than 5,000 COVID patients were hospitalized in Ohio.

One in four patients in the state’s hospitals and one in three ICU patients have coronavirus, according to the Ohio Hospital Association.

COVID inpatients have increased 13% in the last week and 23% in the past three weeks in Ohio. The number of COVID patients admitted to the state’s ICUs is up 2% over the last week and increased 10% over the past three weeks.

Compared to 60 days ago, COVID has increased 129% in hospitals and 82% in ICUs, according to OHA.

Ohio recorded 592 new COVID hospitalizations and 64 ICU admissions in the last day, according to the state health department. It’s the highest amount of daily hospitalizations and third highest number of daily ICU admissions reported in three weeks. The state is averaging 321 hospitalizations and 31 ICU admissions a day over the last three weeks.

“What we’re seeing in our hospitals is being driven by people in Ohio who are not vaccinated,” Gov. Mike DeWine said Wednesday. “If you’re vaccinated, the chances of you ending up in the hospital are pretty darn slim. If you add that booster shot that reduces your odd of ending up in the hospital even more.”

As of June 1, there’s been 35,962 people admitted to the hospital in Ohio due to COVID, the governor said. Of those, 2,687 people were fully-vaccinated,. That is about 7.5% fully vaccinated vs. 92.5% who were not.

For the fourth time this month, Ohio set a record for daily COVID cases. The state added 20,320 cases in the last day, according to ODH. The previous record was 15,989 cases reported last Thursday. The 20,917 cases reported on Sunday was a two-day total that included cases from Christmas Day.

Ohio’s 21-day average is 10,629 cases a day. In the past week, the state is averaging 13,590 cases a day. Ohio has added more than 95,000 COVID cases in the last week.

While previously the delta variant dominated Ohio, the omicron variant is quickly spreading throughout the state.

ODH Director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff said a smaller proportion of people with omicron get sick enough to end up in the hospital, but due to the increased spread, the variant could result in more hospitalizations.

In South Africa and parts of Europe, omicron appears to be declining after peaking.

“Unlike some of these other surges we’ve seen, it has had a more narrow window,” Vanderhoff said.

DeWine and Vanderhoff urged Ohioans to get vaccinated to decrease their risk of being hospitalized from COVID.

As of Wednesday, 59.65% of residents have started the vaccine, including 69.92% of adult Ohioans and 63.30% of people 5 and older, according to ODH. Nearly 55% of Ohioans, including 64.89% of adults and 58.34% of those 5 and older, have completed the vaccine.

More than 6.97 million residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine and 6.41 million have finished the series, according to the state health department. More than 2.6 million Ohioans have received an additional vaccine dose, including 37,467 people in the last day.

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