‘A NEW PHASE’: Ohio’s daily COVID-19 reporting will now be weekly. Here’s why

Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, Ohio Department of Health director, announced the state is scaling back its daily COVID-19 updates on new cases, hospitalizations and vaccinations.

Starting Monday, the updates will be issued weekly on Thursdays, he told reporters during a media briefing Thursday.

“Not only are we leaving the omicron surge behind us, we’re entering a new phase in our experience with COVID-19,” Vanderhoff said. “Case numbers and community transmission have continued to drop steadily, as have hospitalizations.

“The situation is improving, and our experience with COVID-19 is evolving from that of a pandemic to more of an endemic state.”

Average case rate at 7-month low

The state’s average number of new cases per 100,000 Ohioans over the prior two weeks dropped again this week — the seventh straight week of decline. That average rate is now 79 cases per 100,000 people, the lowest point since August, Vanderhoff said. That’s down from 105 the previous week. It was at 161 new cases the week prior. The all-time low was just 19 cases per 100,000 people in July 2021.

Mahoning, Trumbull, Columbiana, Lawrence and Mercer counties all now have a “low” COVID-19 community level, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC’s new community level metric is a combined look at the spread of the virus and the severity of illness in a community which accounts for new cases and hospitalization rates, Vanderhoff said.

Here’s more about how that measurement works.

Valley counties’ new average case rates also continue to decline. Columbiana reported 73 new cases per 100,000 residents (down from 133 at last report); Trumbull reported 60 cases (down from 80); and Mahoning reported 54 cases (down from 78).

State still wary

Vanderhoff on Thursday shared optimism about the virus’ retreat but said he thinks another resurgence is likely.

“Many respiratory viruses like COVID-19 do tend to quiet down [in warmer months]. As we head into the summer, we’re all looking toward brighter days ahead,” he said, before tempering that statement with caution.

“We’ve seen lulls in COVID-19 before. In each of the last two years, the late spring and early summer saw a decrease in cases that was followed by another surge. Perhaps this time will prove different, but let’s not rely on that,” he said.

“We have more tools to get us prepared for whatever COVID-19 may have waiting for us around the corner” — chief of which is the vaccine, Vanderhoff said.

K-12 schools no longer have to report new cases

On Thursday, ODH stopped requiring Ohio’s K-12 schools to report new COVID-19 cases, unless the school conducted the coronavirus testing.

However, the state’s quarantine and isolation guidance following a positive test will not change, Vanderhoff said.

Under the state’s “Mask to Stay, Test to Play” rules, Ohio students who test positive for coronavirus but are asymptomatic may stay in school while wearing a mask, he said.

Here are Ohio’s latest COVID-19 statistics:

The Ohio Department of Health on Wednesday reported 868 new COVID-19 cases statewide in the past 24 hours.

That includes 36 new cases in the Mahoning Valley: 13 new cases in Mahoning County (for a total of 53,174), 16 in Trumbull (41,313) and seven in Columbiana (24,295), according to the state’s COVID-19 dashboard.

The state last month surpassed 2.6 million total cases since the beginning of the pandemic and on Tuesday surpassed 37,000 total reported deaths.

Valley counties have reported a combined average of 27 new cases each day so far this month. There was an average of 93 new cases reported each day in February; 749 cases each day in January; 434 cases each day in December; 320 cases each day in November; and 259 cases each day in October.

More than 22,000 Ohioans are presumed to be actively infected as of Thursday, the lowest level since last summer, which is down from the most recent high of 440,000 Ohioans on Jan. 17.

The state’s average seven-day rate of positive coronavirus tests — which is down from January’s record high — dropped Tuesday to 3.1%, its lowest point since late July.

The all-time record high was 32.7% 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.

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

The rates for the two-week period ending March 1 were 5.8% in Trumbull County (down from 7%); 5.4% in Columbiana (down from 6.6% the prior two weeks); and 5.4% in Mahoning (down from 6.7%).

There were 68 new COVID-19 hospitalizations and nine 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 Thursday, 718 people were hospitalized in the state for COVID-19, down from 729 on Wednesday, according to the Ohio Hospital Association. That’s 1 in 28 of all patients now in Ohio hospitals. On Wednesday, that was 1 in 27. As of Thursday, 131 patients were in the ICU, down from 147 on Wednesday..

The state on Tuesday reported 156 new COVID-19 deaths since its last mortality report four days prior, including two new deaths in Mahoning County and five in Trumbull. That makes 594 new deaths reported so far this month.

About 3,500 new deaths were reported statewide in February; more than 3,600 in 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 4,397 hospitalizations in the state since Jan. 1, 2021, and 1,174 fully vaccinated people have died. That means breakthrough infections are attributed to nearly 5% of all COVID-19 deaths reported since the beginning of last year, and 6.4% of all hospitalizations.

The state last month surpassed 7.2 million first vaccinations, and as of Thursday, 62% of all Ohioans had received at least one dose.

As of Thursday, 6,715,332 vaccine-eligible Ohioans have been fully vaccinated, or nearly 61.1% of Ohioans age 5 and older. As of Thursday, nearly 55% of all residents in Mahoning County have completed their vaccinations; 52.1% in Trumbull; and 45.1% in Columbiana.