DeWine: Daily COVID cases plateau, coronavirus ER visits on the decline
COLUMBUS (WCMH) – New daily cases of COVID-19 have appeared to plateau while emergency room visits due to the coronavirus have started to decrease.
This bit of what Gov. Mike DeWine called good news comes as both deaths and hospitalizations were above the 21-day average Tuesday.
“The case numbers are hovering around 13, 14, 1,500,” DeWine said during his statehouse briefing Tuesday.
The state reported 1,320 new cases Tuesday, with the 21-day average sitting at 1,314.
There were 38 new deaths reported Tuesday, 18 more than the 21-day average of 20, while hospitalizations were up 140 cases, 43 more than the 21-day average of 97.
As of Tuesday, there were 1,144 people hospitalized with confirmed cases of COVID-19, which is 20 more than the previous report.
“Those numbers are certainly not going in the right direction for us,” DeWine said.
And while overall daily increases in cases remains somewhat stagnant, DeWine was pleased to see the ER visits trending downward.
Called Emergency Department Visits with COVID-19 Diagnosis Codes, DeWine said the number is an early warning indicator.
“This is good news and we certainly hope this trend continues,” the governor said.
ER visits started climbing in late March and continued to increase until early May, but there was a huge spike in visits around mid June, peaking around July 12 at approximately 170 daily cases.
“Again, these are delayed numbers, but we’re happy to see them start down,” DeWine said.