Updated: 1:15 p.m. Monday, Nov. 9, 2020
COVID-19 cases are soaring across the country and here in Cuyahoga County.
The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner announced Monday the office building will be closed to the public and non-essential employees until further notice due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The U.S. the recorded highest number of new cases ever reported in a single day on Saturday -- 128,000. And Ohio continues to break records, with more than 5,500 new cases recorded Saturday, according to the Ohio Department of Health.
That number surpassed Friday’s count of 5,008, the previous high.
In Cuyahoga, the amount of virus is also widespread and hospitalizations are rising, according to Cuyahoga County data. The county reported more than 700 new COVID-19 cases and one new death last week.
In a tweet Saturday, Health Commissioner Terry Allan wrote he is concerned about the county’s testing rate, which measures the percentage of COVID-19 tests at county hospitals that came back positive. Last week, that rate was at an all-time high of 10.1 percent – up from 6.7 percent the week before.
During the last week of September, the rate was around 2.4 percent, and has been climbing up since.
Health officials are also seeing higher rates of asymptomatic spread in the county, Allan wrote.
This has been a record-breaking week in Ohio for the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases, as the case count has climbed into unchartered territory each day.
On Friday, health officials reported there were 5,008 new COVID-19 cases in a 24-hour period and 33 new deaths. Some 5,494 Ohioans have died from the coronavirus to date.
This is the state's highest number of new cases ever reported in a single day, according to the Ohio Department of Health (ODH).
Daily New Confirmed & Probable COVID-19 Cases In Ohio
This breaks the previous record of new confirmed cases, 4,961, which was set just one day ago on Nov. 5.
For the past four days, case counts have surpassed 4,000 per day. This is well above the state’s 21-day average of 2,961 cases, indicating that cases have risen significantly compared to three weeks ago.
Ohio first recorded more than 3,000 cases on Oct. 29, and cases reached more than 4,000 for the first time on Nov. 3.
Since mid-October, case counts reported per day have increased by nearly 131 percent, according to state data.
During his regular news briefing on Thursday, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said there is significant community spread all over the state.
“It is everywhere,” DeWine said. “We can’t hide from it, we can’t run from it, we’ve gotta face it and we have to deal with it.”
Most of the spread is being attributed to gatherings such as weddings, funerals, and parties in people's homes, according to health officials.
All 88 counties in Ohio currently have confirmed COVID-19 cases, and all are experiencing high incidences of spread according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention standards.
Hospitalizations have also increased over the past three weeks. According to ODH’s database, 231 people were reported to be hospitalized for COVID-19 in the state over the past 24 hours. To date, 20,246 people have been hospitalized for the virus in Ohio.
The state reported 22 new intensive care unit admissions Friday. The ICU utilization rate, however, is trending downward, according to ODH data.
Cuyahoga County remains at a “red” category, a level 3 threat, on the state’s public health advisory system, which means there is high exposure and spread in the area. All surrounding Northeast Ohio counties have been designated in the red category as well.
Cuyahoga County health officials have not yet released county data for this week, but according to the state’s COVID-19 dashboard, the county is seeing 211 cases per 100,000 residents, which indicates a high incidence of the virus. The county will not drop to the “orange” category, level 2, until that number is below 100 per 100,000 residents, according to the state's alert guidelines.
The majority - 86 percent - of Ohioans are currently living in a red county, DeWine said in a recent press conference.
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