Key COVID data point that could lift health orders continues to increase

Kristen Spicker, Springfield News-Sun, Ohio
·2 min read
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Apr. 15—A key coronavirus data point used to determine when Ohio will lift its public health orders is continuing to move in the wrong direction.

If Ohio reports less than 50 cases per 100,000 people for two weeks in a row the state will end all orders, including a mask mandate.

On Thursday, Ohio reported 200 cases per 100,000, Gov. Mike DeWine said. Four weeks ago, Ohio was at 144 cases per 100,000.

Ohio reported more than 2,000 daily cases of coronavirus for the third straight day on Thursday, according to the Ohio Department of Health.

"It's certainly not where we want to see them," DeWine said.

While Ohio is seeing an increase in cases throughout the entire state, counties in the northern part of Ohio and along the Michigan border are seeing the highest occurrence rate.

Of the 11 counties with the highest occurrence of COVID, eight are in northern Ohio. Clark County is the only county in the Miami Valley that is included in the top 11 counties.

"About one-quarter of Ohioans live in these 11 counties, and most counties are in the northern part of the state where we are seeing a high level of variants," said DeWine.

Over the last 21 days, the state has recorded 1,997 cases a day. Throughout the pandemic, 1,048,109 total cases have been reported in Ohio.

On Tuesday, DeWine and Ohio Department of Health officials recommended the state's vaccine providers halt the use of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine after the FDA and CDC also advised a temporarily pause due to extremely rare reports of blood clots.

Six out of the 6.8 million people in the U.S. who received the Johnson & Johnson shot reported a rare and severe blood.

Ohio instructed vaccine providers to store the vaccines until further information and recommendations are available.

More than 4,250,000 people in Ohio have received at least one dose of the vaccine and 2,847,986 people have finished it as of Thursday.

Nearly 36.5% of Ohioans have had one dose and 24.36% have completed the vaccine.