The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Lake County cases down for fourth straight week
Lake County saw its newly reported novel coronavirus cases decrease for the fourth straight week, according to data from the Ohio Department of Health.
As of 2 p.m., Feb. 9, Lake County had 17,454 cumulative COVID-19 cases. There were 523 new cases reported between Feb. 2 and Feb. 9, down from 581 new cases reported the week prior.
Between Feb. 2 and Feb. 9, there were 26 new COVID-19 hospitalizations in the county, up from 21 new hospitalizations reported the week prior, according to ODH.
As of 2 p.m. Feb. 9, Lake County had 644 cumulative COVID-19 hospitalizations.
ODH’s data shows that 14 COVID-19 deaths have been confirmed in the past week, bringing the county’s death total to 183. Definitive cause of death can take weeks to months to determine, according to health officials.
Of the county’s 17,454 cumulative cases, ODH presumes 15,605 have recovered. ODH defines presumed recovered as those with a symptom onset date greater than 21 days prior who are not deceased.
On Feb. 8, Ohio’s Phase 1B vaccination opened up to those 65 and older. Local health officials have asked for patience as the vaccine process moves on with limited vaccine availability.
There are 47,472 Lake County residents over the age of 65, according to information from Lake the County General Health District, Lake Health, and Lake County Emergency Management Agency. Overall there are about 60,000 Lake County residents eligible for the coronavirus vaccine.
“While Lake County has been assured by state and federal partners that it will eventually receive enough vaccine to vaccinate all eligible individuals who desire a COVID-19 vaccine, the current supply of vaccine being allocated weekly to Lake County is not enough to meet the demand,” the agencies stated Feb. 3.
On Feb. 5, the county held its first “large scale” vaccine clinic. The clinic reached nearly 1,600 residents, according to the health district. The effort was led by the Wickliffe Fire Department.
The health district stated the “large-scale effort wouldn’t have been possible without support from all Lake County fire departments, volunteers from Lake County Board of Developmental Disabilities/Deepwood, and Medical Reserve Corps, transportation from Laketran, and of course the Wickliffe Police Department and The City of Wickliffe, Service Department keeping traffic running smoothly.”
The health district stated that as the vaccine supply increases, “we are ready to offer more of these types of clinics in the future.”
Lake County residents 65 years and older, and those with severe congenital, developmental, or early-onset disorders can visit the health district website, or call 440-350-2188 to be placed on a list to be contacted for scheduling when vaccine becomes available. The link to sign up is red and is located under the Phase 1B heading.
Eligible individuals will then be notified through the Lake County Wireless Emergency Notification System via telephone and email with instructions on how to schedule an appointment.
Clinic times and locations will also be provided at that time, according to the health district, Lake Health and Lake County EMA.
“It may take several weeks to be notified by the WENS system,” the agencies stated. “Individuals who do not respond to the telephone and email message are assured that they will remain on file, do not need to reregister, and will again be notified when (the) vaccine becomes available.”
As of Feb. 9, there have been 21,362 coronavirus vaccines started in Lake County, representing 9.28 percent of the county’s population, according to ODH. Statewide 1,076,415 vaccines have been started, representing 9.21 percent of Ohio’s population.
Lake County schools begin their vaccinations on the week of Feb. 22.
The Lake County General Health District is now releasing its weekly data reports on Fridays with information based on cumulative data entered in the Ohio Disease Reporting System Data Extract as of 12:01 a.m. Thursdays.
The reports were previously released on Wednesday mornings with data as of 2 p.m. Tuesday. The shift comes after an update was made to the Ohio Disease Reporting System.
The health districts data reports include, among other things, demographic breakdowns of cases, hospitalizations and deaths.