Cuyahoga, Summit counties among highest COVID-19 rates in the state – Crain’s Cleveland Business

Ohio's northern counties, including Cuyahoga and Summit, are seeing increases in COVID-19 cases as Michigan and Canada are dealing with significant surges of a more contagious coronavirus variant, Gov. Mike DeWine said during a coronavirus update.

"About one-fourth of Ohioans live in these 11 counties, and most counties are in the northern part of the state where we are seeing a high level of variant," DeWine said Thursday, April 15.

Speaking at the University of Toledo mass vaccination site, the governor said that over the past two weeks, the state reported 200 cases per 100,000 Ohioans. Only four weeks ago, that statistic was 144 cases per 100,000. Summit County has the third-highest rate out of Ohio's 88 counties with 300.9 cases per 100,000 residents, and Cuyahoga County is just behind that with 280.9 cases per 100,000 residents.

DeWine said in early March that when the state has a case incidence rate of 50 cases per 100,000 or below for two weeks, all health orders would be rescinded. Recent daily case data, however, is far from that benchmark.

The number of COVID-19 cases are rising as more Ohioans are being vaccinated, even with the nationwide pause in the use of the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine earlier this week. The state is set to receive 400,000 Pfizer and Moderna vaccine doses next week, he said.

Summit County will begin walk-in appointments at the Summit County Fairgrounds site Friday and Saturday for those wanting to be vaccinated but have not signed up online.

And in Cuyahoga County, the state's only federally run mass vaccination site at Cleveland State University's Wolstein Center will open a satellite clinic at 5398 Northfield Road in Maple Heights over the weekend, offering anyone 16 years and older the first dose of the Pfizer shot. Those interested can call 1-833-4-ASK-ODH or 1-833-427-5634. For free transportation, call 2-1-1.

There were 2,164 new positive coronavirus cases reported over the past 24 hours in the state, bringing the total cases to 1,048,109, according to the Ohio Health Department's Thursday, April 15, report. Total fatality count for state residents is 18,917. The state has seen 181 new hospitalizations and 31 new intensive care admissions in the past 24 hours. There are 1,305 Ohioans currently hospitalized with COVID-19.

There have been nearly 11.45 million coronavirus tests in the state. And nearly 4.25 million people, representing 36.4% of the total population, have received one dose of the vaccine since mid-December.

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Cuyahoga, Summit counties among highest COVID-19 rates in the state - Crain's Cleveland Business