By 1812Blockhouse
All alone last week as Ohio’s only “Purple” Level county under the Ohio Public Health Advisory System, Richland County had some good news when the State of Ohio released the latest COVID-19 numbers on Thursday afternoon.
The numbers suggested at least a leveling of if nor a slight turnaround in the current wave of cases.
Richland County’s designation was returned to “Red,” or “Level Three,” matching most other counties in the state and all contiguous counties.
Three indicators were met, including new cases per capita (1,241 in the last two weeks for a rate of 1,024 per 100,000 residents); the non-congregate rate percentage; and ICU bed occupancy. Both of the first two numbers are going down, week to week.
Hospital admissions and emergency department visits are also in a rather steady decline.
Numbers released for Richland County schools were much lower, perhaps due to the arrival of Christmas break and continued remote learning.
Only eight students and 15 staff cases were reported, taking place in Lexington, Madison, Mansfield City, Ontario and Shelby school districts and at the GOAL Digital Academy.
Last week, there were 51 total new school cases reported.
Photo by Medakit Ltd on Unsplash
