CLEVELAND, Ohio – For the second consecutive week, coronavirus cases and hospitalizations have fallen in the state of Ohio.
The seven-day average of cases remains notably high (5,793, as of Saturday) compared to the summertime low of 211 (on July 8). However, this is the first time in nearly one month that the seven-day average has been this low.
And, for six of the last seven days, the daily coronavirus case count has been lower than the 21-day average of cases. The last time Ohio saw the daily case count consistently lower than the 21-day average in cases was the end of June.
This news correlates with data released Friday by the Ohio Department of Health, showing that the Delta variant of the coronavirus is waning in the state.
While the delta variant appears to have peaked between Aug. 15 and Aug. 28, when it made up 90.6% of the genomic sequencing performed during that time, its presence has since decreased. It made up 73.8% of the variants sequenced from Aug. 29 through Sept. 11.
COVID-19 hospitalizations in Ohio have slightly decreased but basically remained level over the past week, continuing a trend observed the prior week.
As of Saturday, there are 3,438 patients in Ohio hospitals being treated for COVID-19. The number of those patients in intensive care is 967. The last time the COVID patient count in Ohio was lower was Sept. 13. Additionally, this is the first time in weeks that the number of COVID ICU patients was lower than 1,000 for six consecutive days.
Hospitalizations of patients with the virus is down for the second consecutive week, however slightly. The patient count is down 5% over the past seven days, yet up 3% in the past 21 days and 332% in the past 60 days.
Yet as case numbers and hospitalizations continue to trend downward, the number of deaths in the state keeps rising.
Ohio reported 453 coronavirus deaths over the past week, a steep jump from the 349 COVID-19 deaths reported last week and even steeper than the 317 and 207 weekly death counts from the two prior weeks.
Ohio’s COVID-19 death count is provided by the CDC on Tuesdays and Fridays. The numbers released Friday by the Ohio Department of Health marked the seventh straight Friday in which the reported deaths number went up.
It’s worth noting that the death figures often lag for weeks or even months, so it remains unclear whether they’re a reflection of recent trends.
The number of Ohioans with at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine keeps increasing, however incrementally. In the past week, the percentage of Ohioans ages 12 and up who are vaccinated went up to 63.2% – an increase of 0.5%.
Ohio reported another 39,273 individuals received their first dose over the past week. This figure is lower than the previous two weeks (49,887 and 59,438, respectively).
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