As new COVID-19 cases continue to decline across Ohio, the state will shift to weekly updates starting next week, marking the first time in more than two years that information on case counts, hospitalizations and deaths will not be provided daily.
State Health Director Bruce Vanderhoff said in a March 10 press conference that Ohio was "entering a new phase" of the pandemic, with the vast majority of Ohio counties now at low or medium risk of community spread, according to the CDC's new designations. Ohio also has its lowest COVID case count per 100,000 residents since August of 2021.
Weekly updates are also in keeping with CDC recommendations, Vanderhoff said.
Over the past week, Ohio has recorded fewer than 1,000 new coronavirus cases daily, and the 21-day average stands at 1,112, a massive decrease from where case counts stood just two weeks ago (more than 2,500 daily).
As of Wednesday, Vanderhoff said, 729 people in Ohio were hospitalized with COVID-19, which represents a nearly 90% decrease from two months ago, when the Omicron variant was surging.
Currently, cases, hospitalizations, ICU admissions and vaccinations are all still reported daily. Deaths are reported twice each week. All will now be reported once per week, on Thursdays, at the state's Coronavirus dashboard.
This story first appeared in CityBeat sister newspaper Cleveland Scene.
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