Coronavirus: Ohio shatters daily case, hospitalization records

The Ohio National Guard and volunteers from The Foodbank in Dayton load food into vehicles at Wright State University's Nutter Center on Tuesday morning, April 21, 2020. MARSHALL GORBY/STAFF

The Ohio National Guard and volunteers from The Foodbank in Dayton load food into vehicles at Wright State University's Nutter Center on Tuesday morning, April 21, 2020. MARSHALL GORBY/STAFF

Ohio smashed its previous daily case and hospitalizations records Tuesday, reporting 6,508 cases and 386 hospitalizations in the last day.

Cases beat the previous record of 5,549 set on Saturday by nearly 1,000 cases, according to the Ohio Department of Health. This is the first time the state has recorded more than 6,000 cases in a day.

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The state’s previous record for hospitalizations was 231 and was set Friday.

Ohio has reported 261,482 total cases and 21,037 hospitalizations throughout the pandemic.

Gov. Mike DeWine will address Ohioans Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. regarding the state’s “critical stage” in the pandemic and how it will impact Ohio moving forward.

“Today’s data is alarming: Another 6,508 positive COVID-19 cases have been reported in the last 24 hours,” he said Tuesday. “Another 386 people have been hospitalized. [Twenty-three] more people have died. Everyone must take this pandemic seriously. It’s up to all of us to stop this spread.”

Leaders and officials from hospitals across the state shared updates from their regions Monday as cases and hospitalizations continued to climb in Ohio.

Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, incoming Ohio Department of Health chief medical officer, said the state is seeing an “unprecedented” surge in hospitalizations.

“If we don’t control the spread, we won’t be able to continue caring for the acutely ill without postponing important, but less urgent, care,” he said. “This kind of shift could happen in a matter of weeks if trends don’t change.”

As of Tuesday, there are 2,747 COVID-19 patients in Ohio hospitals with 656 in the ICU and 327 on ventilators. In southwest Ohio, there are 738 coronavirus patients in hospitals, up from 671 reported on Monday.

COVID-19 patients account for 10.73% of the region’s hospital beds, with 25.56%, or 1,758 beds, still available. Non-coronavirus patients account for 63.71% or 4,381 of southwest Ohio’s hospital beds.

The state’s positivity rate has also continue to climb along with cases and hospitalizations. On Sunday, 11% of those tested for the virus were positive, the highest its been since the end of April. Ohio’s seven-day average positivity rate is at 9.6%.

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