Ohio continues downslide on new COVID-19 cases
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- The Ohio Department of Health on Thursday reported 1,612 new COVID-19 cases, once again surpassing the lowest count since switching to weekly numbers.
The week of May 26 through June 1 beat the previous record of 1,926 for the year. The state had a recent jump upwards on May 11, as it reported 3,836 cases, but has since continued declining. Ohio's most recent notable climb in COVID-19 numbers was at the beginning of March, when it neared 10,000 weekly COVID-19 infections before falling back down.
ODH has been reporting COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, deaths and vaccinations weekly instead of daily since new infections slowed after the omicron wave. Over the past seven days, the state averaged around 230 new coronavirus cases per day.
The 80 hospitalizations reported by ODH in the past seven days -- about 11 per day -- decreased from the 111 reported last week and the 159 hospitalizations in the week prior.
Rather than reporting new deaths, ODH revised its past COVID-19 death report from May 25. The department retracted seven deaths it had previously classified as stemming from the virus, reducing the state's overall death count. Before the update, ODH said 24 people died from the virus, falling from the 36 deaths reported two weeks ago and 26 three weeks before.
| COVID-19 metric | Total | Change (past 7 days) |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 3,451,602 | +1,612 |
| Hospitalizations | 140,961 | +80 |
| Deaths | 42,292 | -7 |
Both the number of Ohioans getting their first shot and the amount completing COVID-19 vaccinations decreased over the past week. Compared to 1,100 in the week before, 882 started the vaccine process. Another 735 finished vaccination by getting their second dose, down from 889. Around six in 10 Ohioans are partially or fully vaccinated.
| COVID-19 metric | Total | Change (past 7 days) |
|---|---|---|
| Vaccinations started (one dose) | 7,587,999 | +882 |
| – % of all Ohioans | 64.92% | |
| – % of Ohioans 5+ | 68.37% | |
| Vaccinations completed (two doses) | 7,038,446 | +735 |
| – % of all Ohioans | 60.21% | |
| – % of Ohioans 5+ | 63.60% |