Ohio breaks 2022 record for lowest weekly COVID-19 cases
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Ohio on Thursday surpassed the lowest COVID-19 case count since the state health department switched to reporting weekly numbers.
The Ohio Department of Health reported 2,978 new COVID-19 cases, beating out the previous March 2022 record of 3,103.
Ohio is in its ninth week of decline, as the state reported 3,121 cases -- the previous lowest record since the start of 2023 -- the week prior. At the beginning of March, Ohio was nearing 10,000 weekly COVID-19 infections before falling back down.
ODH has been reporting COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, deaths and vaccinations weekly instead of daily since new infections slowed after the omicron wave. Over the past seven days, the state averaged around 425 new coronavirus cases per day.
The 192 hospitalizations reported by ODH in the past seven days -- about 27 per day -- decreased from the 212 reported last week, and the 241 hospitalizations in the week prior.
COVID-19 deaths went down alongside hospitalizations. ODH said 39 people died from the virus, dropping below the 48 deaths the previous week and the 53 reported two weeks before.
| COVID-19 metric | Total | Change (past 7 days) |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 3,441,458 | +2,978 |
| Hospitalizations | 140,473 | +192 |
| Deaths | 42,213 | +39 |
The number of Ohioans getting their first shot increased, but the amount completing COVID-19 vaccinations decreased over the past week. Compared to 818 in the week before, 1,257 started the vaccine process. Another 1,074 finished vaccination by getting their second dose, down from 1,091. Around six in 10 Ohioans are partially or fully vaccinated.
| COVID-19 metric | Total | Change (past 7 days) |
|---|---|---|
| Vaccinations started (one dose) | 7,584,069 | +1,257 |
| – % of all Ohioans | 64.88% | |
| – % of Ohioans 5+ | 68.34% | |
| Vaccinations completed (two doses) | 7,035,003 | +1,074 |
| – % of all Ohioans | 60.18% | |
| – % of Ohioans 5+ | 63.58% |