Delaware County’s death toll due to COVID-19 continues to slowly increase. The total is now 104, the Delaware Public Health District reported this week.
“We are saddened to release another death has been reported to us,” the DPHD posted Wednesday on Facebook. “We send our heartfelt condolences to the family during this very difficult time.”
The district’s COVID-19 numbers are otherwise similar to recent weeks, with nearly 200 more cases from a week ago. There have been 14,845 total cases since the pandemic began, the sum of 10,791 confirmed cases and 4,054 probable cases. There have been 192 total hospitalizations.
As for the COVID-19 vaccine, the DPHD said Tuesday its appointment link is at DelawareHealth.org/covid-19vaccine.
“If the form states no appointments are available, this means all slots are currently filled,” the post continued. “We continually monitor this and open more appointments when we can and add future dates. If no appointments are available, we encourage you keep checking the link for new openings.”
As of Friday afternoon, the Ohio Department of Health reported there were 986,740 total cases, 51,438 hospitalizations, and 17,871 Ohioans dead. It lists Delaware County as having 16,765 total cases, 265 hospitalizations and 124 deaths. Delaware County has consistently had the 14th-most cases of Ohio’s 88 counties. The DPHD has noted the discrepancies in totals between it and the ODH are because the portions of Columbus, Dublin, and Westerville that are in Delaware County are being handled by either Columbus Public Health or Franklin County Public Health.
Gov. Mike DeWine announced Phases 1D and 2B of vaccination eligibility that went into effect Thursday were “in response to significant increase in the amount of vaccine coming into Ohio,” the ODH said.
Phase 1D consists of about 197,000 Ohioans with Type 2 diabetes and end-stage renal disease. Phase 2B includes people age 50 and older, about 1.2 million Ohioans. “All available vaccines will be administered to those who choose to receive it,” said the ODH.
In addition, the state of Ohio now has a centralized scheduling website at gettheshot.coronavirus.ohio.gov. “The website will serve as a singular location for Ohioans to confirm that they are eligible to be vaccinated, identify nearby providers, and schedule their vaccine appointments,” said the ODH.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID Data Tracker said there are 29 million total cases due to the infectious disease in the United States, and 527,726 Americans have died. On the positive side, both cases and deaths have largely trended down over the last 30 days. The CDC is saying 10% of the U.S. population is now fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, with 98.2 million total vaccines administered.
In a televised address Thursday night, President Joe Biden said, “All adult Americans will be eligible to get a vaccine no later than May 1. That’s much earlier than expected. Let me be clear: That doesn’t mean everyone’s going to have that shot immediately, but it means you’ll be able to get in line beginning May 1. Every adult will be eligible to get their shot.”
The Johns Hopkins University of Medicine Coronavirus Resource Center said that globally, 118.7 million people are confirmed to have had COVID-19, with more than 2.6 million deaths worldwide due to the pandemic.
