Ohio reports more than 3,000 COVID cases for first time in five months

Premier Health workers prepare to vaccinate people from COVID-19 at an clinic held at the University of Dayton Arena Monday March 22, 2021.

Credit: JIM NOELKER

Credit: JIM NOELKER

Premier Health workers prepare to vaccinate people from COVID-19 at an clinic held at the University of Dayton Arena Monday March 22, 2021.

For the first time in more than five months, Ohio has recorded more than 3,000 daily cases of coronavirus.

The Ohio Department of Health reported 3,393 new daily cases Wednesday, bringing the state’s total to 1,149,318 since the pandemic began. It’s more than a 1,000 cases higher from the 2,326 new cases reported on Tuesday.

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Ohio is averaging 1,430 cases a day in the last 21 days. In the last week, the state’s average is about 2,050 cases a day.

Ohio reported 147 hospitalizations Wednesday, the second-highest amount reported in the last three weeks. On Tuesday, the state hit its 21-day high with 159 hospitalizations reported, according to ODH. In the last three weeks, the state is averaging 74 hospitalizations a day.

With cases and hospitalizations on the rise, hospitals across the Miami Valley and Southwest Ohio region are requiring staff to get vaccinated.

Kettering Health Network, Premier Health and Dayton Children’s are all requiring the vaccine, as well as all of Cincinnati’s main hospitals.

The requirement prompted protesters to gather outside Kettering Health and Miami Valley Hospital Wednesday, arguing that vaccination should be an individual choice.

As of Wednesday, 50.25% of Ohioans have received at least one dose of the vaccine and 46.6% have finished it. More than 10,000 people received their first shot in the last 24 hours, according to ODH.

Of those ages 12 and older, 58.73% of the state’s population have started the vaccine and 54.46% completed it. Currently, the coronavirus vaccine is only available to those ages 12 and older.

Fourteen ICU admissions were recorded in Ohio in the last day. The state is averaging eight a day over the last 21 days.

More than 350 coronavirus patients were in Ohio’s ICUs as of Wednesday. COVID patients account for 7.3% of the state’s ICU beds. More than 26.6% of Ohio’s beds are open.

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