Ohio facing ‘serious situation’ with COVID, top doctor says

State health director Bruce Vanderhoff again pleaded with Ohioans to get vaccinated for COVID-19 as cases and hospitalizations spike across the country.

On Wednesday, Ohio reported 10,588 new cases of COVID-19, according to the state health department. That’s more new infections in a day than anytime in at least the last three weeks, data shows.

The increase in cases has pushed hospitalizations near record-highs with 4,723 Ohioans with COVID hospitalized as of Thursday, according to the Ohio Hospital Association.

The 1,177 Covid-positive patients in Ohio’s intensive care units are also approaching a pandemic record high, Vanderhoff said. Around 22% of COVID patients in an ICU are under the age of 50 and 13% are under the age of 40, Vanderhoff said.

Vanderhoff said he’s heard countless stories from physicians and patients who have begged for the vaccine once they’re hospitalized with the virus. At that point though, it’s too late for someone to be vaccinated, Vanderhoff said.

“Simply put we’re in a very serious situation but we have a powerful tool in vaccination that can strengthen our protection against severe cases of COVID-19,” he said.

So far, 6.3 million Ohioans, 54% of the state population, have been fully vaccinated against the virus, state data shows. A total of 6.8 million Ohioans have received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine, which Vanderhoff called “tremendous progress” in slowing the spread of the virus.

“Our work isn’t finished...” Vanderhoff said. “Making the choice to be vaccinated right now can keep you out of the hospital and more importantly out of the obituary pages.”

While the highly contagious omicron variant of COVID has already appeared in Ohio and is expected to become more widespread, the delta variant remains the dominant strain locally for now, Vanderhoff said. The delta variant accounted for 99.5% of cases while omicron made up just 0.5% of cases from Nov. 21 through Dec. 4, according to the Ohio Department of Health.

Vanderhoff on Thursday also asked that Ohioans avoid visiting emergency departments simply to confirm a case of coronavirus.

Dr. Steve Gordon, chair of the department of infectious disease at Cleveland Clinic, said he “didn’t want to put coal in anyone’s stocking,” but COVID inpatients are at their highest levels of the pandemic for the health system. Northeast Ohio has taken the brunt of the latest COVID wave, with 47% of those hospitalized with the virus in the greater Cleveland, Akron and Canton areas, according to the Ohio Hospital Association.

The leaders of Columbus’ four major health systems also sounded the alarm again on Thursday and asked Ohioans to get vaccinated or a booster shot if they’re eligible. Around 95% of people hospitalized with the virus are unvaccinated, according to the state health department.

If more Ohioans don’t get vaccinated, it could dramatically impact their health care, the leaders of Ohiohealth, Mount Carmel, Ohio State Wexner Medical Center and Nationwide Children’s Hospital all wrote in a letter to The Dispatch. Some health care providers are already postponing procedures to deal with the influx of COVID patients, according to the letter.

“Our organizations are now preparing for what could be the largest surge yet in COVID-19 cases this winter,” the CEOS wrote. “But the thousands of health care workers dedicated to caring for our community need your help now to continue to provide health care for everyone who needs it.” mfilby@dispatch.com @Maxfilby