Ohio’s positive test rate hits pandemic low

The rate at which Ohioans are testing positive for the coronavirus has dropped to its lowest point since the pandemic hit the state in March.

The average positive test rate for Ohioans over the previous seven days declined to 3% Friday and remained there Saturday, the most recent days for which data is available, according to the state health department. The seven-day average positive rate was 3.7% on Sept. 13.

The state’s positive test rate has declined slowly since Sept. 5, data shows. Ohio hit its highest seven-day average positive test rate, 23.6%, on April 20.

More than 2.84 million COVID-19 tests have been administered in the state.

An additional 856 cases of the coronavirus were reported on Monday, bringing the total number of Ohioans who have tested positive to 145,165.

Monday’s caseload was less than the three-week average of 1,048 new cases reported per day, according to the Ohio Department of Health. Gov. Mike Dewine has said that the reporting of cases, hospitalizations and deaths often lags on weekends and tends to pick up later in the week.

On Monday, the state reported an additional eight deaths caused by the virus; that is below the three-week average of 23 new deaths reported per day. COVID-19 has killed 4,623 Ohioans, according to the state.

An additional 56 Ohioans were hospitalized with the virus by Monday. That’s less than the three-week average of 69 new hospitalizations per day, state data shows.

Admissions to intensive care units on Monday rose by 19, which is more than a three-week average of 11 new ICU admissions per day. On Monday, 592 Ohioans remained hospitalized with COVID-19, including 188 in ICUS and 108 on ventilators, according to the state health department.

Franklin County has reported the most cases in the state, 26,134, and the second-most deaths, 603. Cuyahoga County has reported the most deaths, 644, and the second-highest number of cases, 17,155, state data shows.

Ohio State announced Monday that it has been awarded a five-year, $10 million federal grant to look at the long-term impact of COVID-19 on first responders, health care workers and the public.

The grant is from the National Cancer Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health, and will fund the Center for Serological Testing to Improve Outcomes from Pandemic COVID-19 (STOP-COVID) at Ohio State, according to a university news release.

The Center to STOP-COVID will use serological and molecular tests to study first responders and their household contacts and will be integrated with the broader Serological Sciences Network (Seronet). It is estimated that nearly 2,000 participants will be followed over the study’s five years.

Dispatch Reporter Megan Henry contributed to this story. mfilby@dispatch.com @Maxfilby