Delaware County has reached a significant milestone in the ongoing novel coronavirus crisis — more than 100 people here have recovered from the global pandemic.
The Delaware General Health District’s daily report at 1:30 p.m. April 23 lists 102 people as recovered from COVID-19. That is up 20 from last week. To be considered recovered, a person has been symptom-free for a week and fever-free for three days if self-quarantined, or two weeks symptom-free and fever-free three days if hospitalized.
The number of confirmed cases has slowly increased over the week to now stand at 110. A Confirmed case means a positive, lab-tested result. Probable cases remain at 28. Probable means a health care provider and/or the DGHD has determined a person exhibits symptoms of COVID-19.
The age of Delaware County individuals who have tested positive range from 1 to 90 with a median age of 48. Of the confirmed cases in the county, 53% are male, while 47% are female.
Five people are currently hospitalized from the coronavirus. There have been three deaths in the county, announced March 29, April 7 and April 15. Cases of the global pandemic have been reported in the county since March 18. Delaware County has a population of 205,559 (74,243 households).
There are now 2.6 million confirmed cases of the coronavirus and 186,131 deaths worldwide. The Johns Hopkins COVID-19 Dashboard on the DGHD’s website shows the United States has 845,959 confirmed cases, more than the next four highest countries (Spain, Italy, France, Germany) combined. Other nations listing more than 80,000 cases are the United Kingdom, Turkey, Iran, and the country of origin, China.
More than 4.4 million people in the United States have been tested to date. The U.S. has an estimated 333 million people. Of the states, Ohio has the 13th-most number of tests administered, with 97,998 people tested, up from 86,989 on Tuesday. Ohio has an estimated population of 11.75 million.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, whose site is not as current as the Johns Hopkins site, states there were 44,575 deaths in the U.S. to date from COVID-19 as of April 21, up from 27,012 deaths on Thursday, April 16.
“CDC does not know the exact number of COVID-19 illnesses, hospitalizations, and deaths for a variety of reasons,” the CDC website states. “COVID-19 can cause mild illness, symptoms might not appear immediately, there are delays in reporting and testing, not everyone who is infected gets tested or seeks medical care, and there may be differences in how states and territories confirm numbers in their jurisdictions.”
According to the CDC, states reporting more than 10,000 cases are California, Connecticut, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington. The novel coronavirus has been reported in all 50 states and in five U.S. jurisdictions.
As of 2 p.m. Thursday, the Ohio Department of Health states there are 14,142 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the state and 552 probable cases, for a total of 14,694 cases. The number of hospitalizations has increased to 2,960 with 900 ICU admissions. Data shows the age range of those confirmed to have been infected is 1 to 106 with a median age of 51. Men account for 59% of the confirmed cases.
There were 618 confirmed deaths and 38 probable deaths for a total of 656 deaths due to the coronavirus. Earlier in the week, the total was 509 deaths.
The ODH’s coronavirus website lists confirmed cases by county. Next-door Marion County has the most cases in Ohio, due to an outbreak at the Marion Correctional Institute. On Thursday, counties with more than 1,00o cases were Marion (2,161), Cuyahoga (1,768), Franklin (1,673) and Pickaway (1,661). Delaware’s other neighboring counties are reporting 104 cases in Licking, 25 cases in Morrow, 16 in Union, and 14 in Knox.
The ODH lists Delaware as having 132 cases, 19 hospitalizations, and three deaths as of 3 p.m. Thursday. According to the DGHD’s Facebook page, these discrepancies between the two agencies are based on boundaries. A person who tests positive for COVID-19 who resides in the Columbus, Dublin, Washington Township or Westerville portions of Delaware County would be handled either by Columbus or Franklin County’s Public Health department.
For more information on the coronavirus, visit DelawareHealth.org/Covid-19, coronavirus.ohio.gov or cdc.gov/coronavirus.
