Ohio again saw a significant drop in COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents with numbers not seen this low since mid-August.
It was the fourth consecutive week of declines after 11 straight weeks of increases.
The state saw a 46.8 percent reduction in cases per 100,000 residents from last week and a 371 percent decline from two weeks ago.
Cases in Ohio have declined 842 percent since the record high four weeks ago.
There were 255.8 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents for the period between Feb. 3 and Wednesday compared to 481 cases per 100,000 last week, according to data provided Thursday by the Ohio Department of Health.
The cases per 100,000 Ohioans hasn’t been this low since Aug. 12, 2021, at 194.2.
The rates in Mahoning and Trumbull again were among the lowest of the 88 counties in Ohio.
The state had 949.5 COVID-19 cases two weeks ago, 1,582 COVID-19 cases three weeks ago, a record high 2,154.8 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents four weeks ago and 1,883.8 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents five weeks ago.
The state’s cases are about two and half times what the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention consider to be high-transmission areas for COVID-19.
The CDC number for high transmission is 100 cases per 100,000. It hasn’t been below that since July 29 when 77.4 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents were reported by the ODH.
As of Thursday, 59,796 COVID-19 cases have been recorded in the state through the first 17 days of February. At that pace, February would finish with about 98,488 cases. That would be the fewest number of monthly cases since August with 91,623.
Also, the state’s COVID-19 hospitalization rate has declined from its Jan. 11 peak of 6,729 to 1,842 Thursday, according to Ohio Hospital Association statistics.
VALLEY RATES
The rate of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents declined in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties. But Columbiana had a higher number of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 than the state average.
Mahoning is 69th in the state this week with 208.6 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents. It was 74th in the state last week with 344.6 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents.
Mahoning was 77th in the state two weeks ago with 620.9 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents, 76th three weeks ago with 1,102.8 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents, 72nd four weeks ago with 1,789.4 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents and 18th five weeks ago with 1,943.7 COVID-19 cases per 100,000.
Trumbull is 76th in the state this week with 166.7 cases per 100,000 residents. Trumbull was 78th in the state last week with 294.5 cases per 100,000 residents.
It was 78th two weeks ago with 541 cases per 100,000 residents, 79th three weeks ago with 958.2 cases per 100,000 residents, 78th four weeks ago with 1,546.7 cases per 100,000 residents and 47th five weeks ago with 1,649.2 cases per 100,000.
Columbiana is 49th this week with 278.8 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents. It was 65th last week with 442.7 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents.
It was 70th two weeks ago with 784.2 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents, also 70th three weeks ago with 1,384.9 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents, 70th again four weeks ago with 1,797.2 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents and 68th five weeks ago with 1,385.9 COVID-19 cases per 100,000.
The ODH measures cases per 100,000 residents among counties to get a fair comparison because total cases would result in more-populous counties ranking higher.
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