Ohio has its highest one-day total of COVID-19 cases – The Review

LISBON Columbiana County has added an additional death to the numbers of those who have died in connection to the coronavirus this year.

The County Health Department reported on Friday the death of a 77-year-old woman, who was not the resident of a long-term care facility. However, like the other three deaths added this week, Public Information Officer Laura Fauss said all were older and with underlying health conditions. There have been 86 deaths, including 23 members of the general community.

The county remains level two, orange on the Ohio Public Health Advisory map, meeting three of the seven indicators. Cases have been rising across the state and a larger number of counties moved into orange and red this week. Ohio had a new one-day high of 1,840 positive COVID-19 cases on Friday.

Columbiana Countys indicators were for having more than 50 cases per 100,000 residents over the last two weeks. Columbiana County has had 30 new cases since Friday, Oct. 2, bringing the countys total to 2,013. Additionally, the county was flagged for having more than 50 percent of the new cases not in a congregate setting, such of a long-term care facility or the FCI-Elkton prison. Finally, Columbiana County met the standard for having an increase in the number of people visiting a healthcare provider with COVID-like symptoms.

Health Commissioner Wes Vins said in the last category that does not mean the patient has COVID-19. Instead in Columbiana County he said less than 3 percent of those tested positive for the virus.

However, the rise in cases is concerning according to Vins and Fauss. Vins said some of the increase can be traced to weddings, funerals and casual social gatherings. He is concerned that with the holiday season and people moving indoors with colder weather, there will be even more of an increase in cases if people become complacent about social distancing, masks, avoiding gatherings and hand washing.

Finally, Fauss said there is concerns people are getting pandemic fatigue becoming more desperate to get life back to normal they are starting to take more risks and ignore guidelines.

While Vins said when a coronavirus vaccine becomes ready in the upcoming months there are determinations being made about who will receive it first, such as health care workers and then those who are immune compromised, those in congregate living and critical workforce. Vins said it will all depend on timing and the availability of the vaccine.

Besides using the tools to prevent the spread of the virus with social distancing, masks and hand washing, Vins said he urges everyone to get their flu shot now. These are the ways to avoid becoming ill and possibly needing to be quarantined.

The health department also would like to urge people to remember that the disease trackers are members of the community, calling from the two local cities or the county. They will ask about your health condition, talk about quarantining protocols and talk to someone about people they may have come in contact with and a way to reach them so they can learn they should be watching for symptoms and self-isolating. However, the caller will not ask someone for any information like a Social Security number. If someone does, the caller is a scam.

Additionally, Vins said if someone is concerned they or their child might be a close contact with someone they have heard may have coronavirus, the concerned person can contact the health department themselves instead of waiting for a call from a contact tracer.

Vins said fortunately most of the people in Columbiana County seem to understand that the disease tracker and the health department are trying to help them protect the people in their lives.

While numbers are starting to rise throughout the state, at this point Vins said local schools, sports teams and fans are still going a great job protecting those involved in these events. There have been a few schools with cases as expected and Beaver Local was the only school to list a new case this week. However, Vins noted the majority of children checked due to suspected symptoms or illness continue to be diagnosed with something else instead of COVID-19.

At this point, it is believed 1,879 of the 2,013 people contracting COVID-19 in Columbiana County have recovered.

djohnson@mojonews.com

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Ohio has its highest one-day total of COVID-19 cases - The Review