Ohio reports 1,312 new COVID-19 cases; 63 Valley cases

The Ohio Department of Health on Monday reported 1,312 new COVID-19 cases statewide in the past 24 hours.

That includes 63 new cases in the Mahoning Valley: 30 new cases in Mahoning County (for a total of 52,778), 19 in Trumbull (40,915) and 14 in Columbiana (24,034), according to the state’s COVID-19 dashboard.

Valley counties have reported a combined average of 130 new cases each day so far this month. There were an average of 749 new cases reported each day in January; 434 cases each day in December; 320 cases each day in November; 259 cases each day in October; 295 cases each day in September; and 113 cases each day in August.

The state’s average seven-day rate of positive coronavirus tests — which is down from January’s record high but fluctuating — dropped Saturday to 10%, its lowest point since Nov. 4, more than a month before the highly contagious omicron variant was first detected in Ohio.

The all-time record high was 32.6% on Jan. 12. Before the recent surge of new cases, the state’s previous all-time high was 23.6% on April 20, 2020, amid COVID-19’s first wave.

The average number of new cases per 100,000 Ohioans over the prior two weeks dropped by about half last week — the third straight week of sharp decline. That average rate is now 481 cases per 100,000 people, down from 950 the previous week. It was at 1,582 new cases the week prior.

Valley counties’ new average case rates are all below the state average, and in or near the quarter-lowest among Ohio’s 88 counties.

Columbiana County last week reported 443 new cases per 100,000 residents (down from 784 at last report); Mahoning reported 345 cases (down from 621); and Trumbull reported 295 cases (down from 541).

The state’s two-week average of new cases per 100,000 is still nearly five times higher than the CDC’s threshold for “high” transmission, which is 100 new cases per 100,000 over two weeks. The all-time low was just 19 cases per 100,000 people in July 2021.

The state earlier this month surpassed 2.6 million total cases and 34,000 total reported deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.

More than 103,000 Ohioans are presumed to be actively infected as of Monday, down from the most recent high of 440,000 Ohioans on Jan. 17. But that’s still higher than the most recent low of 69,700 in early November.

There were 99 new COVID-19 hospitalizations and 22 new ICU admissions reported statewide in the past 24 hours, according to ODH. The number of COVID-19 patients currently hospitalized in the state has been decreasing.

As of Monday, 2,199 people were hospitalized in the state for COVID-19, down from 2,509 on Friday, according to the Ohio Hospital Association. That is 1 in 9 of all patients now in Ohio hospitals. Last week, that was 1 in 8. As of Monday, 436 patients were in the ICU, down from 503 on Friday.

The state on Friday reported 427 new COVID-19 deaths since its last mortality report four days prior, including 13 new deaths in Mahoning County, seven in Trumbull and two in Columbiana. That makes 1,939 new deaths reported statewide so far this month.

There were more than 3,600 new deaths reported statewide for the whole month of January; more than 2,800 in December; about 2,000 in November; more than 2,500 in October; nearly 1,110 in September; and about 380 in August. ODH attributes deaths to the date they occurred, so new death reports are not indicative of their time frame.

As of Wednesday, fully vaccinated people accounted for 3,977 hospitalizations in the state since Jan. 1, 2021, and 1,002 fully vaccinated people have died. That means breakthrough infections are attributed to 4.8% of all COVID-19 deaths reported since the beginning of last year, and 6% of all hospitalizations.

Saturday’s positivity rate is still more than seven times higher than the all-time low of 1.3% reported in late June. Valley counties’ positivity rates per 100,000 people are now dropping but are all still above the state average.

The rates for the two-week period ending Feb. 8 were 14.9% in Trumbull County (down from 19.3% the prior two weeks); 14.7% in Columbiana (down from 19.1%); and 11.9% in Mahoning (down from 16.8%).

The state inches closer to 7.2 million first vaccinations, and as of Jan. 26, 61% of all Ohioans had received at least one dose.

As of Monday, 6,643,964 vaccine-eligible Ohioans have been fully vaccinated, or 60.4% of Ohioans age 5 and older. As of Monday, 54.5% of all residents in Mahoning County have completed their vaccinations; 51.7% in Trumbull; and 44.5% in Columbiana.