Coronavirus: 8,828 daily cases reported, hospitalizations continue to drop in Ohio

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and first lady Fran DeWine don masks as they stand outside their home decorated for the holidays. CONTRIBUTED

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and first lady Fran DeWine don masks as they stand outside their home decorated for the holidays. CONTRIBUTED

Coronavirus hospitalizations continued to drop on Christmas Eve with 4,494 COVID-19 patients reported in Ohio hospitals, according to the state health department.

It’s the lowest patient count the state has reported in two weeks and the seventh straight day remained below 5,000 patients.

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Southwest Ohio reported 1,146 coronavirus patients in hospitals Thursday, a slight increase from the 1,138 patients recorded Wednesday, but still below the 1,200 mark the region had hovered above in previous weeks.

COVID-19 patients account for 15.93% of hospital and 22.54% of ICU beds in the region, according to the Ohio Department of Health.

As of Christmas Eve, southwest Ohio has 2,301 (31.99%) of hospital beds and 238 (20.88%) ICU beds available.

Statewide, 320 hospitalizations were reported Thursday, bringing the total to 36,345. Ohio recorded 35 ICU admissions for a total of 5,675.

There were 8,828 cases added in the state on Christmas Eve, with 653,650 total cases reported throughout the pandemic. It’s the fourth straight day daily cases have increased after they dropped for five straight days.

Ohio is averaging 9,848 cases a day.

Deaths increased by 95 on Christmas Eve for a total of 8,456.

Nearly two weeks after Ohio received its first shipment of the coronavirus the state has administered the first of the two-dose immunization to 25,262 people, about 0.22% of Ohio’s population. Roughly a fifth of those vaccinated, 6,881 people, are ages 60 and older.

The state is not releasing updated coronavirus on Christmas day. The data will be added to the information released on Dec. 26.

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