Ohio has recorded more than 1.4 million total cases since the pandemic began last March.
State health leaders were more optimistic this week about the number of cases leveling off since a summer surge sparked by the Delta variant and unvaccinated residents. However, they cautioned that hospitalization remained high.
“I will not feel confident that this wave is declining and passing until we start seeing some more definite decreases particularly in hospitalizations across the state,” ODH Director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff said.
Deaths also have been higher in recent weeks. Deaths are reported two times per week in Ohio, with 53 deaths added to the dashboard on Friday, bringing the state to 22,273 since the start of the pandemic.
Credit: DaytonDailyNews
On Saturday, 233 new hospitalizations were reported, which was below than the 303 reported on Friday and below the 21-day average of 262 new hospitalizations per day.
ICUs reported 14 new coronavirus patients, down from 32 on Friday and below the three-week average of 23 per day.
Ohio has 3,348 COVID positive patients in hospitals now, according to the dashboard.
