Despite being the most vaccinated county in the state, the Delaware Public Health District (DPHD) is reporting four out of five failed critical factors on its weekly COVID-19 report card.
Unfortunately, Delaware County is experiencing the same surge in coronavirus and its variants that is happening throughout the state and the country.
“We continue to encourage you to use protection practices to help prevent further spread!” the health district posted Wednesday on Facebook.
The failed factors are new cases of COVID-19 (also known as SARS-CoV-2), new cases in the schools, positivity rate, and percent of intensive care unit patients with coronavirus. The only positive factor is in the percentage of residents who are vaccinated.
The critical factors were developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) last summer to help local agencies provide community guidance.
“We continue to advise everyone to wear a mask in public indoor settings and in crowded areas, regardless of vaccination status,” the health district’s website said. “While this is not a mandate, we do ask that everyone comply with the practices of public facilities and businesses that continue to require masks as they decide what is best for their customers and staff. With these practices, we can get through this pandemic, protect public health, and support our local economy all by working together!”
The DPHD’s weekly report said there were an average of 48 new cases per day per 100,000 population (the county’s population is more than 200,000). The daily case rate and moving average per 100,000 population is in the critical range, a step up since November. There have been 25,757 total cases, and 2,139 people have been placed in isolation within the last 10 days.
On Wednesday, the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) reported 10,588 new cases of COVID-19 in a single day, the most since Jan. 7. More than 1.8 million Ohioans have had the coronavirus, requiring 91,800 hospitalizations. There have been 27,594 deaths in the state from the infectious disease since 2020.
The latest COVID-19 dashboard issued by ODH indicates that Delaware County has fallen from having the 14th-most cases in the state to 16th. Delaware has 28,580 cases (which includes areas not served by DPHD), 404 hospitalizations and 189 deaths from coronavirus. In comparison, neighboring Licking County, with fewer residents, has just passed Delaware with 28,780 cases, 521 hospitalizations and 353 deaths. The ODH vaccination dashboard said 70% of Delaware County’s population is fully vaccinated, compared to 51% of Licking County.
The CDC data said 50.3 million cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the United States, resulting in nearly 800,000 deaths. Cases and deaths have gone up sharply in the past 30 days.
Data from Johns Hopkins University indicates the U.S. has had the most cases and deaths from coronavirus in the world overall. The U.S. also had the most cases and deaths over the last 28 days, with nearly 3 million cases and 34,001 deaths.
