Some hospitals in the state are filling up with patients with COVID-19, most of them unvaccinated, said Bruce Vanderhoff, Ohio Department of Health director.
He said Friday 1 in every 10 patients in hospitals in Ohio have COVID-19 and 1 in every 6 patients in intensive care units have the virus. A month ago, 1 in 38 patients were in hospitals with COVID-19 and 1 in 24 were in the ICU.
“Unvaccinated Ohioans are by far and away the COVID-19 patients filling our hospital beds with delta,” he said. “We’re seeing all people get sicker quicker.”
Dr. Andrew Thomas, chief clinical officer for the Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center, said: “It feels like we’re in mid-December. It’s quite concerning.”
Friday was the fourth consecutive day with cases exceeding 4,000. The 4,855 cases reported Friday is down from the 5,395 Thursday. But those two days are the most since Jan. 29.
Friday was the 18th consecutive day in which Ohio exceeded 1,800 daily COVID-19 cases. That includes 11 that had more than 3,000 cases.
“Unfortunately, we’re continuing to see our delta wave drive our cases ever higher,” Vanderhoff said.
COVID-19 cases started increasing in mid-July after being low for the previous six weeks.
Vanderhoff said 200 people were in hospitals in Ohio July 9 with COVID-19. There were 2,127 Friday.
Also, there were 56 ICU patients with COVID-19 in the state July 9. There were 628 Friday.
“Our hospitals are at levels that are quite concerning,” Vanderhoff said. “Hospitalizations are occurring largely among the unvaccinated.”
He urged those at least 12 years of age to get vaccinated.
COVID-19 DATA
The 4,855 new COVID-19 cases reported Friday is up from the daily average of 3,054 for the past 21 days, according to the ODH.
Of those new cases Friday, 156 were in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties combined.
The entire state was averaging about 260 cases per day about six weeks ago.
The state had a total of 1,202,728 COVID-19 cases as of Friday with 1,119,496 presumed recovered and 20,799 deaths.
The ODH usually provides death information on Tuesdays and Fridays.
Of the 70 additional COVID-19 deaths since Tuesday, two were in Trumbull and one in Mahoning.
Also, Kent State University announced Friday it will require COVID-19 vaccinations phased in by Dec. 20 for students and non-union employees with exemptions considered for medical or religious reasons.
The university is negotiating with unions to mandate the vaccine for its members.
Mahoning County had 24,051 total COVID-19 cases as of Friday with 22,359 presumed recovered and 618 deaths.
Trumbull County had 17,779 total COVID-19 cases as of Friday with 16,560 presumed recovered and 496 deaths.
Columbiana County had 9,981 total COVID-19 cases as of Friday with 9,113 presumed recovered and 236 deaths.
VACCINATIONS
There were 6,035,272 people, 51.63 percent of the state’s population, who at least had started getting inoculated as of 6 a.m. Friday, including 11,428 in the previous 24 hours, according to the ODH.
In Mahoning County, 50.03 percent of the population (114,420 people) had received at least one dose, while 47.8 percent of the population in Trumbull County (94,631 people) and 40.47 percent in Columbiana County (41,233 people) had as of 6 a.m. Friday, according to the ODH.
There were 5,574,468 people, 47.69 percent of the state’s population, who finished the vaccinations as of 6 a.m. Friday, including 9,436 in the prior 24 hours.
In Mahoning County, 46.13 percent of the population (105,496 people) had completed the process, while 43.77 percent of the population in Trumbull (86,658 people) and 37.42 percent of the population in Columbiana (38,127 people) had as of 6 a.m. Friday.
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