COLUMBUS — Richland County has recorded its smallest two-week period of new COVID-19 cases in almost four months, the Ohio Health Department reported Thursday.
The news came as Gov. Mike DeWine announced during his Thursday press conference the state will soon announce new re-opening guidance as virus cases and hospitalizations continue to subside throughout the state.
“The vaccines have given us great hope, but until we have enough Ohioans vaccinated, we must continue masking and social distancing,” DeWine said.
“Easing up on some prevention measures is intended to serve as a starting point. If the trajectory of cases, hospitalizations, and deaths continues downward, we hope to be able to relax more of these measures. If it gets worse, we may have to tighten up,” the governor said.
According to the Ohio Hospital Association, there were 1,262 residents hospitalized statewide with COVID-19 on Thursday, down 16 percent in the last week, 42 percent in the last 21 days and 72 percent in the last two months. The number peaked at 5,308 on Dec. 15 and has been steadily declining.
There were 240 new coronavirus cases in Richland County in the past two weeks, the smallest number reported since there were 237 cases reported on Oct. 29.
Numbers of new cases spiked during November and December as the virus surged, topping out at 1,328 during a two-week period reported on Dec. 17. Numbers have dropped since then, sliding below 1,000 on Jan. 7 and below 500 on Feb. 11.
The county remained “red,” or level three, on the Ohio Public Health Advisory System. Richland County continued to trigger only two of the seven indicators in the system, but will remain “red” until it drops below 100 new cases per 100,000 residents during a two-week period.
Richland County, which was at 1,096 new cases per 100,000 residents on Dec. 17, improved to 198 cases per 100,000 this week.
During his briefing with the media Thursday, DeWine said the state was preparing to loosen more restrictions.
“Today, we are announcing the next steps to ease some of our public health measures while mitigating the spread of COVID. The coming months will be critical as new variants of the virus spread throughout the nation and Ohio, but we are optimistic,” the governor said.
“The goal will be for all of us to get back to where we want to be – what our lives were before the pandemic. There is a bridge back to that life, and that bridge is built on vaccinations and continuing safety protocols,” DeWine said.
The state health department reported 1,530,823 Ohio residents have started the two-dose COVID-19 vaccine, or about 13.1 percent of the the state’s population.
DeWine said those numbers should be ramping up in the days and weeks ahead.
“Next week, we will have 310,000 first doses in Ohio, so we will be adding more vaccine provider sites — including some Meijer and Walmart sites and more independent pharmacies. RiteAid, Kroger, CVS, Walgreens, local health departments, hospitals will also have more doses,” he said.
“We believe, based on information from the federal government, that once the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is available, Ohio will have another 91,000 doses during the first week,” DeWine said.
The Johnson & Johnson vaccine, if approved by the FDA, is a one-dose treatment.
The governor announced sporting and entertainment events will be able to reopen with 25 percent maximum indoor capacity and 30 percent maximum outdoor capacity, provided they follow established precautions.
“This is a start. If the situation improves in spring/summer, this could be expanded,” DeWine said.
He said guidance will be announced soon for proms, banquet centers, wedding receptions, fairs, festivals and parades.
