Ohio hospitalizations fall from peak COVID surge

Compared to three weeks ago, the number of COVID-19 patients in west central Ohio hospitals has fallen 26%.

For southwest Ohio, there were 620 inpatients who were COVID-19 positive on Monday, also about 1 in 3 patients. This includes Butler, Warren, Clinton, Hamilton, Clermont, Brown and Adams counties. There were 143 COVID patients in west central ICUs.

Compared to three weeks ago, the number of COVID-19 patients in southwest Ohio hospitals has fallen 39%.

Ohio Department of Health reports 34,217 state residents have died from COVID-19 over the pandemic, though that is preliminary data and some information is received on a delay.

About 7.18 million Ohioans have at least started a COVID-19 vaccine, or an estimated 61.4% of the state population. The vaccination rate ranges widely by region, from an estimated 66% in Warren County to a little under 40% in Darke County.

Also, about 3.29 million fully vaccinated Ohioans have received an additional dose.

Ohio recorded 2,594 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday.

The 21-day average of reported new cases is 9,956 according to the Ohio Department of Health, which released updated statistics this afternoon.

Hospitalizations, cases and vaccination rates all vary widely from community to community, with more detail at coronavirus.ohio.gov.

As of Feb. 3, about 6.6% of daily recorded COVID-19 PCR and rapid tests were coming back positive, with a little under 30,000 tests recorded so far for that day. The percent of tests detecting the coronavirus has been declining in recent weeks, similar the decline in COVID-19 hospitalizations.