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BREAKING | Valley counties report more than 500 new COVID-19 cases in one day; 6,310 new cases statewide
<p>COLUMBUS — The tri-county Mahoning Valley on Thursday reported 505 new COVID-19 cases — the region's highest single-day tally in months.</p><p>The Ohio Department of Health on Wednesday reported 6,310 new COVID-19 cases statewide in the past 24 hours.</p><p>That includes 505 new cases in the Mahoning Valley: 200 new cases in Mahoning County (for a total of 29,061), 176 in Trumbull (21,631) and 129 in Columbiana (12,967).</p><p>Ohio on Thursday surpassed 1.45 million total cases since the beginning of the pandemic.</p><p>Meanwhile, the state's two-week average of new cases per 100,000 people had its second week of decline, following months on the rise due to the coronavirus' highly contagious delta variant.</p><p>The state this week reported an average 561 new cases per 100,000 Ohioans, down from 617 the week prior. That’s still more than five times the CDC’s threshold for “high” transmission, which is 100 cases per 100,000 people. The two-week rate of new cases was 699 for the week ending Sept. 22.</p><p>Columbiana County this week reported 818 new cases per 100,000 residents (down from 861 for the two weeks ending Sept. 22); Mahoning reported 670 (down from 703); and Trumbull reported 622 (up from 611).</p><p>The average rate of new cases reported each day in the Valley so far this month is still higher than in September, and nearly three times higher than in August. Valley counties have reported an average 335 new cases each day this month. In September it was an average 295 cases per day, more than double the 113 average daily cases reported in August.</p><p>There were 323 new COVID-19 hospitalizations reported statewide Monday and 27 new ICU admissions.</p><p>As of Wednesday, 1,133 people reported to be fully vaccinated have been hospitalized in the state for breakthrough infections since Jan. 1, and 186 fully vaccinated people have died. That means breakthrough infections are attributed to about 2 percent of all COVID-19 deaths reported since the beginning of the year, and about 3.7 percent of all hospitalizations.</p><p>Statewide, more than 112,000 people are presumed to be actively infected as of Thursday.</p><p>The average two-week rate of positive coronavirus tests remained flat at 12 percent between Monday and Tuesday. That rate increased steadily since mid-July, but is now down 2 percent since its most recent peak on Sept. 9.</p><p>However, it continues to be as high as it was in mid-January, as the state's winter surge was on the decline. It's still nine times higher than the all-time low of 1.3 percent reported in late June.</p><p>The two-week positivity rate for the period ending Sept. 28 was 14.9 percent in Columbiana (up from 14 percent at last report); 14.3 percent in Trumbull County (down from 13.9 percent); and 11.3 percent in Mahoning (down from 11.6).</p><p>The state on Tuesday reported 185 new COVID-19 deaths since its last mortality report four days prior, an average of more than 46 deaths per day, including four deaths in Mahoning County, six in Trumbull and five in Columbiana. The state on Friday reported 341 deaths, which is the highest tally in months.</p><p>More than 1,000 COVID-19 deaths were reported in September, an average of nearly 40 deaths per day. August saw nearly 380 total deaths, an average of about 12 deaths per day. About 2,100 COVID-19 deaths were reported statewide in December — the month with the most recorded pandemic deaths — an average of 70 per day.</p><p>Between Wednesday and Thursday, 7,525 new vaccinations were started in the state. To date, 5,912,141 vaccine-eligible Ohioans have been fully vaccinated, or about 59 percent of Ohioans age 12 and older.</p><p>As of Thursday, about 48.8 percent of all residents in Mahoning County have completed their vaccinations; 46.4 percent in Trumbull; and 39.9 percent in Columbiana.</p>
