As COVID-19 cases and hospitalization surge statewide, ODH says pandemic is ‘trending in the wrong direction’

COLUMBUS — With Ohio setting new daily records for COVID-19 cases, and the state's rate of new cases per 100,000 Ohioans now 25 times higher than it was in early July, state health officials on Thursday warned the pandemic is "trending in the wrong direction."

And we're not even in winter yet.

Whereas about 250 people were in Ohio hospitals for COVID-19 on July 1, that number had grown to more than 2,500 as of Wednesday, according to the Ohio Department of Health. Similarly, ICU admissions of COVID-positive patients have also increased tenfold since July 1. Of those hospitalized in the state as of Thursday, more than 750 were in the ICU and about 450 of those patients were on ventilators, ODH Director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff told reporters Thursday.

According to the Ohio Hospital Association, one in every eight hospital patients in Ohio has COVID-19, and one in five COVID-19 patients are receiving intensive care, he said. That's doubly worse at hospitals in the state's rural areas, where one in four patients are hospitalized with COVID-19 and one in three are in the ICU, he said.

One is not likely to find any other diagnosis that prevalent in the state's hospital system, said Dr. Brian Taylor of Central Ohio Primary Care Hospitals. Whereas earlier in the pandemic health care providers were taking in patients who then incidentally tested positive for COVID-19, it's now becoming the primary reason for their hospitalization, he said — and the unvaccinated account for between 80 and 90 percent of those patients; 90 percent of those in the ICU.

Though Vanderhoff assured Ohio is "not in a position yet" where hospitals must begin turning patients away, Taylor said hospitals are now considering surgical bed capacity more carefully.

Earlier this week, he told a patient who needed a "necessary" cardiac bypass operation that there was a window to admit him for surgery, but "if the volumes continue to go up, they might have to look at delaying surgeries again."

Each of Ohio's 88 counties is currently experiencing a "high" rate of transmission under U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, which is 100 cases per 100,000 people over two weeks. In five counties, that rate is over 1,000. For comparison, Columbiana County this week reported about 413 new cases per 100,000 residents; Mahoning reported 378; and Trumbull reported 266, which was the third-lowest rate among Ohio's 88 counties. The statewide rate was reported at 472 Thursday, up from 338 last week.

The latest surge is strongest in counties with low vaccination rates between 30 percent and 40 percent, Vanderhoff said. About 46.6 percent of all residents in Mahoning County have completed their vaccinations; 44 percent in Trumbull; and 37.8 percent in Columbiana, ODH reported Thursday.

"What we are seeing now is very troubling and reminiscent of our winter surge, before vaccines were available," he said. "We all need to work together to get a higher rate of community protection. We all need to choose to be vaccinated."

Dr. Hector Wong of Cincinnati Children's Hospital said though frontline health care workers were appreciative of the outpouring of community support they received early in the pandemic, those people are now "exhausted" and some have chosen to leave the field entirely, leaving hospitals short-staffed.

"Something of a 'silver lining' about a year ago was that the kids were getting infected but weren't getting particularly sick," he said. "That's starting to change now."

He said he hopes the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will in the coming months issue an emergency use authorization for the COVID-19 vaccine to be administered to those younger than 12.

"I think the FDA is doing its job. They're being very careful. They're not cutting corners. The fact that it seems to be taking a long time should be reassuring to the public the FDA is not cutting corners … and making very sure this will or will not be something safe for [children]."

When asked by reporters whether mask or vaccine mandates are the best way to counter widespread anti-mask and anti-vaccine sentiment, Vanderhoff said:

"We're part of a very wonderful democracy and in that democracy, at the end of the day, it always depends on the will of the people. What we need to get through this is for all of us to recognize what I and my other medical colleagues have been saying for weeks."

This story was originally published September 3, 2021 at 3:52 AM with the headline "As COVID-19 cases and hospitalization surge statewide, ODH says pandemic is ‘trending in the wrong direction’."