Ohio reported far fewer coronavirus cases in the week ending Saturday, adding 50,239 new cases. That's down 17.6% from the previous week's toll of 60,968 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19, though the holiday week may have affected the number of people getting tested and how quickly test results were available.
Ohio ranked No. 16 among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the latest week the United States added 1,327,043 reported cases of coronavirus, a decrease of 12.3% from the week before. Across the country, 6 states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.
Testing has changed around the holidays, making comparisons difficult. Labs and testing sites closed. People traveled or prepared for the holidays instead of getting tested. Some counties and states didn't report data as quickly.
Across Ohio, cases fell in 82 counties, with the best declines in Montgomery, Franklin and Stark counties.
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The share of Ohio test results that came back positive was 17.1% in the latest week, compared with 15.3% in the week before, a USA TODAY Network analysis of COVID Tracking Project data shows. In the latest week, 294,169 tests were administered; a week earlier, that figure was 399,733. Experts say it is important to look at the share of tests that come back positive, not just case counts, to get a better idea of whether the rate of new infections is changing or if differences in testing are playing a role.
The World Health Organization says places should be conducting enough tests to have fewer than 5% coming back positive. Places where the percentage is higher could struggle to complete contact tracing soon enough to prevent spread of the virus.
Within Ohio, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Pickaway, Wyandot and Defiance counties. Adding the most new cases overall were Cuyahoga County, with 5,620 cases; Franklin County, with 5,509 cases; and Hamilton County, with 3,195. Weekly case counts rose in six counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week's pace were in Pickaway, Mahoning and Muskingum counties.
In Ohio, 445 people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Saturday. In the week before that, 554 people were reported dead.
A total of 664,668 people in Ohio have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 8,476 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 18,982,634 people have tested positive and 331,909 people have died.
Ohio COVID-19 cases by county
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