Fairfield County's COVID cases fall 20.4%; Ohio cases plummet 16.8%

Mike Stucka USA TODAY NETWORK
·3 min read
Nurses Debbie Black and Rachel Lee double check a COVID-19 vaccine dose for a child during a vaccine clinic in Hamilton, Massachusetts, on Sept. 9.
Nurses Debbie Black and Rachel Lee double check a COVID-19 vaccine dose for a child during a vaccine clinic in Hamilton, Massachusetts, on Sept. 9.

Ohio reported far fewer coronavirus cases in the week ending Sunday, adding 12,101 new cases. That's down 16.8% from the previous week's tally of 14,536 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.

Ohio ranked 18th among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the latest week coronavirus cases in the United States decreased 19.4% from the week before, with 323,859 cases reported. With 3.51% of the country's population, Ohio had 3.74% of the country's cases in the last week. Across the country, 10 states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.

Fairfield County reported 148 cases and no deaths in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 186 cases and no deaths. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 44,387 cases and 441 deaths.

Across Ohio, cases fell in 75 counties, with the best declines in Cuyahoga County, with 1,224 cases from 1,694 a week earlier; in Franklin County, with 1,162 cases from 1,398; and in Hamilton County, with 663 cases from 794.

>> See how your community has fared with recent coronavirus cases

Within Ohio, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Butler County with 230 cases per 100,000 per week; Guernsey County with 188; and Williams County with 172. The Centers for Disease Control says high levels of community transmission begin at 100 cases per 100,000 per week.

Adding the most new cases overall were Cuyahoga County, with 1,224 cases; Franklin County, with 1,162 cases; and Butler County, with 883. Weekly case counts rose in 12 counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week's pace were in Butler, Lucas and Brown counties.

In Ohio, zero people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, 12 people were reported dead.

A total of 3,143,746 people in Ohio have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 39,856 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 96,397,885 people have tested positive and 1,059,605 people have died.

>> Track coronavirus cases across the United States

Ohio's COVID-19 hospital admissions falling

USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Sunday, Oct. 2. Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:

  • Last week: 1,776

  • The week before that: 1,971

  • Four weeks ago: 2,141

Likely COVID patients admitted in the nation:

  • Last week: 51,355

  • The week before that: 53,692

  • Four weeks ago: 61,434

Hospitals in 17 states reported more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in 25 states had more COVID-19 patients in intensive-care beds. Hospitals in 17 states admitted more COVID-19 patients in the latest week than a week prior, the USA TODAY analysis of U.S. Health and Human Services data shows.

The USA TODAY Network is publishing localized versions of this story on its news sites across the country, generated with data from Johns Hopkins University and the Centers for Disease Control. If you have questions about the data or the story, contact Mike Stucka at mstucka@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: Fairfield County reported 148 additional COVID-19 cases this week