Columbiana County reports 398 new COVID-19 cases, 3 deaths

LISBON — Columbiana County today reported 398 new COVID-19 cases since last Friday.

In the past week, the county has averaged 56.8 new positive virus tests per day, according to a release from the Columbiana County Health District.

There have been a total of 6,582 cases of COVID-19 in the county to date. Of those total cases, 641 are presumed to be active infections, according to the district. Last week, the district reported 663 more active infections and 795 more the week before that.

The district today also reported three new COVID-19 deaths: 81- and 93-year-old males who were members of the general community and a 96-year-old female who was a resident of a long-term care facility.

A total of 125 virus-related deaths have been reported in the county to date. Of those total deaths, nine were inmates from the federal prison, 71 were residents of long-term care facilities and 45 were general community members.

The federal Bureau of Prisons on Thursday reported at least 966 cumulative cases at Federal Correctional Institution Elkton in Lisbon, including 26 active infections; 23 among staff and three among inmates.

FCI Elkton has the third-highest number of cumulative cases in the federal prison system, behind facilities in Seagoville, Texas, and Beaumont, Texas. It also has the fifth-highest number of total deaths.

FCI Elkton has reported nine inmate deaths, the most recent of which was reported May 8.

As of Friday, 5,816 people were presumed to have recovered from the virus in the county, according to the district.

At FCI Elkton, 875 current inmates and 56 employees had contracted and recovered from COVID-19 as of Thursday, according to the bureau. That number has declined in recent weeks, suggesting the bureau removes cases from its total when inmates are transferred out of the prison.

A total of 408 people have been hospitalized in the county as of Thursday, according to ODH.

Columbiana County this week remained at the state's level 3 "red" alert status under the Ohio Public Health Advisory System map, as the county meets two of the system's seven risk indicators and is considered to have a high incidence of coronavirus transmission:

• The county has reported 622 new COVID-19 cases in the past two weeks, or 612 new cases per 100,000 population. That's more than six times higher than the CDC's "high incidence" threshold, which is 100 new cases per 100,000 people. Counties meet this indicator when they report more than 50 new cases in the past two weeks per 100,000 people.
  
  
• Up to 75 percent of the county's new cases from Dec. 9 to Dec. 29 were reported outside congregate settings such as long-term care or correctional facilities. Counties meet this indicator when more than 50 percent of new cases from at least one of the last three weeks were reported outside a group setting.

As of Thursday, Columbiana County had the 29th-highest total number of cases among Ohio's 88 counties, as well as the 20th-highest total deaths, according to ODH.

This story was originally published January 8, 2021 at 1:48 PM with the headline "Columbiana County reports 398 new COVID-19 cases, 3 deaths."