COVID cases down overall but area hospitalizations up

The number of new COVID-19 cases and new Covid-related hospitalizations in the state last week were less than the threeweek average, according to data released Thursday by the Ohio Department of Health.

The state recorded 16,169 new cases and 445 new hospitalizations in the week ending June 12, according to data released Thursday by the Ohio Department of Health. This brings the total to nearly 2.82 million reported Ohio cases since the pandemic began, or almost one for every four Ohio residents.

As the amount of testing has decreased, it is unclear how many other cases go unreported.

Overall, new cases and hospitalizations from last week were down 11% from the 18,247 cases and 549 hospitalizations reported the previous week.

But a decrease in “new hospitalizations” doesn’t always mean fewer people in the hospital — as some people admitted earlier require longer stays, and people are diagnosed with COVID after they were hospitalized for other reasons.

There were 763 active COVID hospitalizations in Ohio as of Thursday with 126 receiving intensive care, according to the Ohio Hospital Association.

Of those, 59 were in west central Ohio —which includes Champaign, Clark, Darke,

Greene, Miami, Montgomery, Preble and Shelby counties — and 107 were in southwest Ohio, which consists of Butler, Warren, Hamilton, Adams, Brown, Clermont and Clinton counties.

The hospitalizations represent a 13% increase in the last week for west central and a 9% increase for Southwest Ohio.

COVID ICU patients include one in west central Ohio and 14 in Southwest Ohio, with both numbers down from the previous week.

The state did not update COVID deaths on Thursday because the National Center for Health Statistics is implementing a new coding system. Death data also was not available June 9. Once the new coding system is operating, all deaths entered during the twoweek pause will be coded with the appropriate cause of death.

More than 7.3 million of Ohio’s 11.7 million people have started the COVID vaccine and 6.82 million have finished it. About 3.63 million people in the state have received a booster dose and 583,855 have gotten two boosters, according to ODH.

About 63% of Ohioans have received at least one dose of the vaccine, including 66.8% of ages 5 and older. Nearly 58.4% of residents have completed the vaccination, including 62% of those 5 and older.