Ohio reported more than 450 daily COVID-19 hospitalizations Tuesday, making it the second highest amount reported in the past three weeks.
The state recorded 461 hospitalizations in the last day, nearly double the 21-day average of 236 hospitalizations a day, according to the Ohio Department of Health.
On Tuesday, one in six patients in the state’s hospitals and one in four ICU patients had coronavirus, according to the Ohio Hospital Association. ODH reported 3,801 COVID patients in Ohio’s hospitals, 984 in ICUs and 606 patients on ventilators.
COVID inpatients have increased 14% in the past week and 55% in the last three weeks. The virus is up 6% over the last week and 47% in the past three weeks in Ohio’s ICUs, according to OHA. Compared to 60 days ago, the number of coronavirus patients hospitalized in Ohio has increased 10% and is up 2% in ICUs.
Ohio recorded 41 ICU admissions in the last day and is averaging 22 COVID ICU admissions a day in the last three weeks, according to ODH.
Cases were also up on Tuesday, with 6,745 recorded in the past 24 hours. It was the second highest number of COVID-19 cases reported in a day in three weeks. On Wednesday the state reported 6,751 daily cases. More than 9,000 cases were added on Friday, but the total also included cases from Thanksgiving day.
Over the last three weeks, Ohio is averaging 5,236 cases a day and 5,262 cases a day in the past week.
With the rise in cases and hospitalizations in recent weeks, some health officials believe it’s the start of another winter surge.
“We are heading into the winter with very high levels of disease transmission,” ODH Director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff said last week. “And over the last couple of weeks, a definite upturn in the number of cases and the number of hospitalizations. So essentially we’re heading into the winter already in a surge.”
As colder temperatures send more people inside and winter holidays approach, health experts are urging people to get the COVID vaccine and booster doses.
More than 6.76 million Ohioans have received at least one dose of the vaccine, accounting for approximately 57.84% of the state’s population. More than 68.25% of adults and 61.48% of those 5 and older have started the vaccine, according to ODH.
Nearly 53% of Ohioans, or roughly 6.176 million people, have finished the vaccine, including 63.72% of adults ad 56.15% of residents 5 and older.
As of Tuesday, 1,644,614 residents have received an additional dose of the COVID vaccine.
The state reported 104 deaths, bringing its total to 26,587, according to ODH. It’s the fewest number of deaths reported in three weeks.
Ohio updates COVID death data twice a week. Because other states don’t regularly report death certificate information to Ohio’s Bureau of Vital Statistics, the data can fluctuate.
The day a death is reported does not reflect the day the death occurred.
