WEEKLY COVID-19 TRENDS | Ohio’s cases slowed, but so has its vaccine rollout

COLUMBUS — After rising consistently for five weeks in a row, Ohio's COVID-19 cases have plateaued — again.

"We're crowding this virus out," said Gov. Mike DeWine during a state briefing Wednesday.

As a result, the state has moved closer to its reopening goal.

Gov. Mike DeWine promised the state can reopen when it reports 50 cases per 100,000 people over two weeks. Two weeks ago, the rate rose to 200 cases per 100,000 — four times the state goal. Last week, it decreased to 185.8 cases per 100,000.

But the state's use of its primary offensive weapon against the pandemic — vaccines — has slowed precipitously.

Between March 28 and April 3, the state administered more than 460,000 first doses of the vaccine. Last week, only 203,274 Ohioans received their first dose of the vaccine.

So the state is targeting young people who haven't gotten the vaccine yet.

"If you’re young and unvaccinated, what might have not been a concern to you this fall sure ought to be a concern to you now," said Ohio Department of Health Chief Medical Officer Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, referring to the deadliness of the new coronavirus variant. "The unvaccinated are quite simply playing a COVID lottery, and it's a lottery whose consequences are pretty stark."

April 18 to April 24 in numbers

• 8,003 new confirmed cases were reported in Ohio; a total of 894,839 confirmed cases have been reported as of April 24.
• There have been 771 new hospitalizations; a total of 55,641 people have been hospitalized as of April 24.
• Between April 18 and April 24, 129 COVID-19 deaths were reported. The state reported 19,118 COVID-19 deaths in Ohio April 24.
• Ohio is reporting 13,278 people have recovered from the virus between April 18 to April 24. The state reported 1,006,839 total recovered cases April 24.
• As of April 24, 38.92 percent of the state population has received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. That's an increase of 203,274, down from 289,076 new vaccinations the week before and 409,281 two weeks ago

Ohio Public Health Advisory System map

Franklin County, home to Columbus, remained purple on the Ohio Public Health Advisory System map. Last week, 33 counties were orange, down from 34 the week before; two are yellow, down from four. The rest are red.

Columbiana County remained orange. Mahoning and Trumbull counties remained red and are both considered to have a high incidence of coronavirus spread. The number of new cases per capita has decreased for all three counties for the first time in several weeks.

• Mahoning County reported 419 new cases, or 183 cases per 100,000 people, a decrease from 185 cases per 100,000 people last week;
• Trumbull County reported 322 new cases, or 163 cases per 100,000 people, a decrease from 170 new cases per 100,000 people last week;
• Columbiana County reported 136 new cases, or 133 cases per 100,000 people, a decrease from 134 cases per 100,000 people last week.

All three counties meet the indicators for new cases per capita and the proportion of new cases occurring outside group settings such as long-term care or correctional facilities.

Mahoning and Columbiana counties also meet the indicator for increasing number of new cases.

Trumbull County meets the indicator for increasing number of outpatient visits for COVID-19.

Testing

• The weekly volume of virus testing statewide steadily decreased since reaching an all-time peak on Nov. 25.
• The seven-day moving average for positive tests was 4.4 percent on Thursday. That average reached an all-time low of 3 percent in early March and peaked last April 20 at 23.6 percent.

Vaccinations

• As of Saturday, 4,549,108 Ohioans have started to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, including 89,060 in Mahoning County, 73,218 in Trumbull and 32,160 in Columbiana.
• Statewide, 37.18 percent of Ohioans have started to receive the vaccine.

Mahoning County is slightly above the statewide rate, with 38.94 percent of county residents having received the first dose of the vaccine. In Trumbull County, 36.98 percent of residents have started to receive the vaccine; only 31.57 percent of Columbiana County residents have started to receive the vaccine.

Coronavirus week by week

Here's a breakdown of how each complete week of the pandemic has looked like in Ohio so far. Data in bold reflect the peaks in new cases, deaths, hospitalizations and ICU admissions.

March 15 to March 21

• New cases: 221
• New deaths: 3

March 22 to March 28

• New cases: 1,159
• New deaths: 22
• New hospitalizations: 261
• New ICU admissions: 123

March 29 to April 4

• New cases: 2,333
• New deaths: 77
• New hospitalizations: 662
• New ICU admissions: 203

April 5 to April 11

• New cases: 2,448
• New deaths: 140
• New hospitalizations: 853
• New ICU admissions: 246

April 12 to April 18

• New cases: 3,752
• New deaths: 192
• New hospitalizations: 660
• New ICU admissions: 188

April 19 to April 25

• New cases: 5,044
• New deaths: 237
• New hospitalizations: 596
• New ICU admissions: 178

April 26 to May 2

• New cases: 3,554
• New deaths: 279
• New hospitalizations: 581
• New ICU admissions: 128

May 3 to May 9

• New cases: 4,023
• New deaths: 264
• New hospitalizations: 604
• New ICU admissions: 134

May 10 to May 16

• New cases: 3,276
• New deaths: 243
• New hospitalizations: 570
• New ICU admissions: 100

May 17 to May 23

• New cases: 3,452
• New deaths: 299
• New hospitalizations: 567
• New ICU admissions: 129

May 24 to May 30

• New cases: 3,351
• New deaths: 182
• New hospitalizations: 574
• New ICU admissions: 119

May 31 to June 6

• New cases: 2,769
• New deaths: 210
• New hospitalizations: 449
• New ICU admissions: 102

June 7 to June 13

• New cases: 2,485
• New deaths: 176
• New hospitalizations: 404
• New ICU admissions: 104

June 14 to June 20

• New cases: 3,169
• New deaths: 136
• New hospitalizations: 337
• New ICU admissions: 79

June 21 to June 27

• New cases: 4,907
• New deaths: 101
• New hospitalizations: 423
• New ICU admissions: 83

June 28 to July 4

• New cases: 6,519
• New deaths: 96
• New hospitalizations: 487
• New ICU admissions: 136

July 5 to July 11

• New cases: 7,840
• New deaths: 123
• New hospitalizations: 659
• New ICU admissions: 116

July 12 to July 18

• New cases: 9,356
• New deaths: 95
• New hospitalizations: 743
• New ICU admissions: 143

July 19 to July 25

• New cases: 9,050
• New deaths: 164
• New hospitalizations: 632
• New ICU admissions: 126

July 26 to Aug. 1

• New cases: 8,484
• New deaths: 207
• New hospitalizations: 785
• New ICU admissions: 138

Aug. 2 to Aug. 8

• New cases: 7,453
• New deaths: 150
• New hospitalizations: 569
• New ICU admissions: 97

Aug. 9 to Aug. 15

• New cases: 7,345
• New deaths: 150
• New hospitalizations: 784
• New ICU admissions: 113

Aug. 16 to Aug. 22

• New cases: 6,117
• New deaths: 148
• New hospitalizations: 568
• New ICU admissions: 109

Aug. 23 to Aug. 29

• New cases: 6,778
• New deaths: 150
• New hospitalizations: 539
• New ICU admissions: 78

Aug. 30 to Sept. 5

• New cases: 8,168
• New deaths: 127
• New hospitalizations: 520
• New ICU admissions: 80

Sept. 6 to Sept. 12

• New cases: 6,374
• New deaths: 149
• New hospitalizations: 476
• New ICU admissions: 56

Sept. 13 to Sept. 19

• New cases: 6,347
• New deaths: 198
• New hospitalizations: 466
• New ICU admissions: 87

Sept. 20 to Sept. 26

• New cases: 5,871
• New deaths: 123
• New hospitalizations: 435
• New ICU admissions: 72

Sept. 27 to Oct. 3

• New cases: 7,221
• New deaths: 178
• New hospitalizations: 550
• New ICU admissions: 72

Oct. 4 to Oct. 10

• New cases: 8,872
• New deaths: 72
• New hospitalizations: 620
• New ICU admissions: 106

Oct. 11 to Oct. 17

• New cases: 12,047
• New deaths: 70
• New hospitalizations: 654
• New ICU admissions: 114

Oct. 18 to Oct. 24

• New cases: 14,717
• New deaths: 137
• New hospitalizations: 997
• New ICU admissions: 166

Oct. 25 to Oct. 31

• New cases: 18,828
• New deaths: 92
• New hospitalizations: 1,126
• New ICU admissions: 154

Nov. 1 to Nov. 7

• New cases: 28,815
• New deaths: 189
• New hospitalizations: 1,263
• New ICU admissions: 146

Nov. 8 to Nov. 14

• New cases: 42,719
• New deaths: 190
• New hospitalizations: 1,681
• New ICU admissions: 182

Nov. 15 to Nov. 21

• New cases: 50,721
• New deaths: 235
• New hospitalizations: 2,142
• New ICU admissions: 207

Nov. 22 to Nov. 28

• New cases: 58,933
• New deaths: 361
• New hospitalizations: 2,044
• New ICU admissions: 214

Nov. 29 to Dec. 5

• New cases: 57,915
• New deaths: 512
• New hospitalizations: 2,697
• New ICU admissions: 262

Dec. 6 to Dec. 12

• New cases: 64,866
• New deaths: 436
• New hospitalizations: 2,844
• New ICU admissions: 281

Dec. 13 to Dec. 19

• New cases: 50,291
• New deaths: 441
• New hospitalizations: 2,750
• New ICU admissions: 332

Dec. 20 to Dec. 26

• New cases: 42,714
• New deaths: 352
• New hospitalizations: 1,960
• New ICU admissions: 206

Dec. 27 to Jan. 2

• New cases: 40,482
• New deaths: 450
• New hospitalizations: 2,120
• New ICU admissions: 221

Jan. 3 to Jan. 9

• New cases: 44,611
• New deaths: 485
• New hospitalizations: 2,424
• New ICU admissions: 238

Jan. 10 to Jan. 16

• New cases: 39,688
• New deaths: 441
• New hospitalizations: 1,991
• New ICU admissions: 197

Jan. 17 to Jan 23

• New cases: 29,204
• New deaths: 452
• New hospitalizations: 1,637
• New ICU admissions: 162

Jan. 24 to Jan. 30

• New cases: 24,335
• New deaths: 375
• New hospitalizations: 1,450
• New ICU admissions: 175

Jan. 31 to Feb, 6

• New cases: 17,780
• New deaths: 437
• New hospitalizations: 1,342
• New ICU admissions: 150

Feb. 7 to Feb. 13

• New cases: 13,159
• New deaths: 3,554
• New hospitalizations: 1,015
• New ICU admissions: 93

Feb. 14 to Feb. 20

• New cases: 9,405
• New deaths: 350
• New hospitalizations: 825
• New ICU admissions: 98

Feb. 21 to Feb. 27

• New cases: 9,476
• New deaths: 412
• New hospitalizations: 880
• New ICU admissions: 107

Feb. 28 to March 6

• New cases: 7,386
• New deaths: 419
• New hospitalizations: 651
• New ICU admissions: 75

March 7 to March 13

• New cases: 6,770
• New deaths: 380
• New hospitalizations: 668
• New ICU admissions: 61

March 14 to March 20

• New cases: 7,019
• New deaths: 311
• New hospitalizations: 583
• New ICU admissions: 58

March 21 to March 27

• New cases: 7,835
• New deaths: 183
• New hospitalizations: 588
• New ICU admissions: 63

March 28 to April 3

• New cases: 9,342
• New deaths: 116
• New hospitalizations: 619
• New ICU admissions: 63

April 4 to April 10

• New cases: 9,596
• New deaths: 173
• New hospitalizations: 741
• New ICU admissions: 79

April 11 to April 17

• New cases: 10,418
• New deaths: 170
• New hospitalizations: 823
• New ICU admissions: 102

April 18 to April 24

• New cases: 8,003
• New deaths: 129
• New hospitalizations: 771
• New ICU admissions: 82

This story was originally published April 26, 2021 at 3:52 AM with the headline "WEEKLY COVID-19 TRENDS | Ohio’s cases slowed, but so has its vaccine rollout."