The number of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 Ohio residents increased for the fifth consecutive week and is at levels not seen in a year.
The 718.5 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents for the period between Nov. 25 and Wednesday is up from 601.1 cases per 100,000 last week, according to Ohio Department of Health data reported Thursday.
It’s an increase of 16.3 percent since last week. It’s the highest cases-per-100,000-residents level in Ohio since December 2020.
The state was at 538.2 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 two weeks ago.
It was 496.3 cases per 100,000 three weeks ago, 410.5 cases per 100,000 four weeks ago and 359.1 cases per 100,000 five weeks ago.
Through the first nine days, December is on pace to have the second-most COVID-19 cases for a month since the start of the pandemic behind only December 2020, which reported 279,317 cases.
The state has had 70,791 cases through the first nine days of the month, an average of more than 7,865 per day. This month is on pace to have 243,835 cases.
Also, the state reported 4,338 people in Ohio hospitals with COVID-19. That’s the most in about a year.
Before the five weeks of increases of COVID-19 cases per 100,000, the state had six straight weeks of declines. But since then, the number has doubled.
The state’s cases are more than seven times what the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention consider to be high-transmission areas for COVID-19.
The CDC number for high transmission is 100 cases per 100,000.
The highest COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents among Ohio’s 88 counties was Crawford with 1,183.3, and the lowest was Athens with 353.6 cases per 100,000 residents.
VALLEY RATES
Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana had higher rates of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents than the state and are in the upper half of Ohio’s 88 counties.
Mahoning is 44th in the state this week with 774.9 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents.
Last week it was 20th in the state with 778.8 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents. It was 17th two weeks ago with 726.8 cases per 100,000 residents, 25th three weeks ago with 686.1 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents, 28th four weeks ago with 533.1 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents and 38th five weeks ago with 431.2 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents.
Trumbull is 19th this week with 896.1 cases per 100,000 residents.
Trumbull was 14th last week with 816.8 cases per 100,000 residents. It was 18th two weeks ago with 718.8 cases per 100,000 residents, 39th three weeks ago with 577.9 cases per 100,000 residents, 32nd four weeks ago with 507.4 cases per 100,000 residents and 30th five weeks ago with 463.2 cases per 100,000.
Columbiana is 32nd this week with 840.2 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents.
It was 13th last week with 821.5 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents. It was ninth two weeks with 758.2 cases per 100,000 residents, 14th three weeks ago with 753.8 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents, 17th four weeks ago with 677.2 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 and ninth five weeks ago with 620.3 COVID-19 cases per 100,000.
The ODH measures cases per 100,000 residents among counties to get a fair comparison because total cases would result in more-populous counties ranking higher.
Meanwhile, Mahoning County Public Health is offering free at-home COVID-19 rapid test kits 1 to 3 p.m. and 4 to 6 p.m. Wednesday at the Canfield Fairgrounds’ Junior Fair Event Center.