DPHD: 4 failing COVID-19 factors increase

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The Delaware Public Health District is again reporting four out of five failed critical factors on its weekly COVID-19 report card, with increasing numbers.

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, 72.2%, up 0.5% from last week. The critical factors were developed by the CDC to help local agencies provide community guidance.

This week’s critical factors are 1,314 new cases per 100,000 persons in the past seven days (it was 950 last week); and 739 new cases per 100,000 staff and students in the past seven days (it was 127 last week). The county’s population is more than 200,000. Both of those totals are well over the 50 or less needed for a satisfactory grade. The positivity rate is 27.2%, up from last week’s 26.7% and above the 8% or less satisfactory mark; and the health care capacity is 25%, unchanged from last week, but greater than the 20% satisfactory mark.

The Ohio Department of Health said Delaware County has the 16th-highest number of cases among the state’s 88 counties, with 35,787 people who have contracted the coronavirus, up more than 2,000 in the past week. There have also been 413 residents hospitalized and 206 deaths from the infectious disease. Statewide, there have been 2.2 million cases, 100,771 hospitalizations, and 30,435 deaths from COVID-19.

“Due to the high volume of cases being reported during the current COVID-19 surge, not all cases reported in the past 24 hours may have been fully processed,” the ODH said on its coronavirus dashboard.

Despite the recent surge, Delaware County continues to lead in percentage of residents who have started the vaccine, 75.9% or 158,945 people. No other county is at 70%. By comparison, next-door Franklin County is at 65.5% and the state itself is 60.5%. Delaware County also leads the way in percentage who have completed their shots, 71.7%.

The state’s breakthrough dashboard said 50,828 people who were not fully vaccinated were hospitalized due to COVID-19, and 15,324 of those Ohioans died. In contrast, 2,991 people who were fully vaccinated were hospitalized due to COVID-19, and 729 of them died.

The CDC said there have been over 61.7 million cases of COVID-19 in the United States (compared to 56.3 million last week), resulting in 837,274 deaths (up more than 12,000 in the past week). In the past 30 days, cases and deaths have soared. More than 521 million vaccines have been administered nationwide, the CDC said.

As of Wednesday, the CDC said Delaware County had a high transmission rate of COVID-19, and that “Everyone should wear a mask in public indoor settings.”

Johns Hopkins University reports that the U.S. has had 12 million cases of the coronavirus in the past 28 days, with 40,229 deaths. Worldwide, more than 315.3 million people have contracted COVID-19, with 5.5 million deaths from the infectious disease. More than 9.5 billion vaccine doses have been administered.

At a press briefing on Wednesday, the White House COVID-19 response team said the Omicron variant represents about 98% of the COVID-19 cases in the country, with an average of 751,000 cases per day over the past week (up 47% from the previous week), 19,800 hospital admissions per day over the past week (up 33% from the previous week), and 1,600 deaths per day over the past week (up 40% from the past week).

“We know what works against COVID-19,” said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky. “This means getting vaccinated and getting boosted; wearing a mask in public indoor settings in areas of high transmission — and, currently, that’s over 99% of our counties — and testing before you gather with others.”

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By Gary Budzak

[email protected]

Gary Budzak may be reached at 740-413-0906 or on Twitter @GaryBudzak.

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