Coronavirus-related hospitalizations in Ohio remained below 3,500 Wednesday, triggering the relaxation of state-instituted overnight curfews on residents.
The Ohio Hospital Association reported 2,944 patients receiving hospitalized care with COVID-19, down from 2,963 Tuesday and the seventh day in a row below 3,500.
Gov. Mike DeWine announced plans Tuesday to ease curfew hours if current coronavirus hospitalizations dropped below certain levels for seven consecutive days. With Wednesday’s total, restrictions on residents’ after-hours movements from their homes will shift from 10 p.m.–5 a.m. to 11 p.m.–5 a.m. for the next two weeks.
“Today’s numbers did meet the policy the governor announced yesterday,” said DeWine spokesman Dan Tierney.
A revised health order will be drafted Wednesday evening to change the curfew time effective Thursday night, Tierney said.
Earlier:Ohio's COVID-19 curfew could be loosened or lifted if hospitalizations decline
The current limits on all but essential and work-related travel were implemented in mid-November as part of efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The governor said curfew changes could be announced as soon as Thursday and would remain in place for at least two weeks. Conversely, increases in hospitalization rates would lead to a return of longer curfew hours.
The hospital association, which updated statewide patient numbers prior to the state’s usual early afternoon posting, also reported 735 people hospitalized in intensive care units, down from 741 a day earlier.
The total hospitalizations and ICU numbers have been generally declining since mid-December.
Cumulative hospitalizations statewide since March reached 45,530 Wednesday, with 254 newly reported in the prior 24 hours, according to state health officials.
The Ohio Department of Health reported 5,366 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday, up from 4,262 Tuesday but below the 21-day average of 6,451 per day.
To date, there have been 878,284 confirmed or probable coronavirus cases in the state, with nearly 8.9 million COVID-19 tests administered and 748,000-plus presumed recoveries from the disease.
State health officials also reported 26,488 additional vaccine doses administered since Tuesday's report, bringing inoculation totals to date to 682,705. Nearly 6% of the state’s population has received at least one dose to date.
Seventy-five new deaths were reported by health officials Wednesday, down from 88 Tuesday, bringing the total for the pandemic to 10,931.
@OhioCapitalBlog
Source link
