Will drop in COVID-19 cases continue?

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – As COVID-19 cases caused by the omicron variant start to decrease, will the trend continue?

The Ohio Department of Health reported 2,070 new cases Sunday, the lowest number of new cases reported in one day since early August. By comparison, the state reported more than 26,000 new cases, many of which related to a backlog in reporting, on Jan. 16.

Hospitalizations also continue to drop, down to 48 Sunday from a high of 689 on Jan. 19.

Central Ohio doctors are cautiously optimistic the trend will continue, saying with people staying indoors due to this past week’s winter storm, there has been less of an opportunity for the virus to spread.

And the decline is not just being seen in cases among adults; numbers for children’s cases is on the decline as well.

Coronavirus cases reported every week by Ohio schools came in under 20,000 for the first time this week.

“So I think the timing of this last winter storm was right because it was hitting right on that downslope of what we were already seeing with omicron, so I think that is going to carry us forward and maybe some brighter times here ahead,” said Dr. Derek McClellan, a pediatrician with Central Ohio Primary Care.

At Central Ohio Primary Care, they tested fewer than 500 kids last week, way down from nearly 1,700 who were tested near the beginning of January.

And while cases are trending in the right direction, numbers are still high, but the news is hopeful.

“I would describe the omicron variant as a tsunami; it’s very, very contagious, but just as it came on, it is going away just as quickly,” said OhioHealth Infectious Disease Expert Dr. Jospeh Gastaldo.

Like anything else during the pandemic, Gastaldo said, there is no way to predict what the virus will do, and staying cautious and prepared will help prevent the spread of the next variant.