Coshocton top county for COVID-19 spread
COSHOCTON – Coshocton County still has the highest transmission rate of COVID-19 in Ohio and it remains to be seen if the Coshocton County Fair was a super spreader event.
On Oct. 1, the first day of the Coshocton County Fair, the Ohio Department of Health stated Coshocton County had the highest transmission of new COVID-19 cases over the previous two weeks. It had a rate of 1478.1 per 100,000 people or nearly 2.5 times the statewide average of 616.7.
Steven Lonsinger, commissioner of the Coshocton County Health Department,
on Wednesday said the county is still at the top of the list, but has dropped. The current rate for the county is 1210.4, more than double the state average of 560.5 per 100,000 people. He said the entire state is considered to have a high rate of transmission.
With the incubation rate of COVID-19 being up to 14 days, Lonsinger said it will be another week before the effect of the Coshocton County Fair on case rates will be seen. The fair ended Oct. 7.
Lonsinger continues to stress vaccination as the best defenses against the virus. However, Coshocton County ranks 77 out of 88 Ohio counties with just 37.05% of the population vaccinated. That's below the state average of 54.55%.
“Many people still have concerns about the need or the safety of the vaccines. And there is a lot of inaccurate and misinformation confusing issues,” Lonsinger said. “Locally, we have rented billboards, ran radio ads, purchased newspaper ads, maintained social media pages, held satellite vaccination clinics and had display booths to promote COVID-19 vaccinations.”
Since the start of the pandemic, Coshocton County has had 4,535 COVID-19 cases. Of those, 1,118, or nearly 25%, came during September. Lonsinger credits that to the Delta Variant being more contagious and spreading quicker than other variants. Even for those vaccinated, Lonsinger still stresses the need to wear face coverings and practicing social distancing when in public.
Ridgewood Local Schools started temporary mask requirement on Sept. 21 that was to last 31 days for all individuals in all buildings. Superintendent Mike Masloski in a message to parents Tuesday said he would ask for that mandate to be extended to Nov. 29 at the school board's regular meeting on Monday.
Masloski said the district has had six positive COVID-19 cases each of the last two weeks and is averaging 25 to 30 students in quarantine a day from outside of school positive contacts at each of the district's three school buildings.
Masks remain optional for Coshocton and River View schools.