There have only been 23 COVID-19 cases reported in Brown County through March 8.
If the cases keep tracking at their current rate, Brown County will see less than one hundred cases this month.
Cases to date in March are down 90 percent from the 904 cases in January. 326 were reported in February.
For context, there were 1246 cases in December of 2020, which was almost half of the entire total of 2548 cases since tracking began in March of 2020.
Currently, there are 24 people recovering at home from the virus and three in the hospital. 3801 cases have been confirmed in Brown County since March of 2020, with 3743 recoveries. 31 deaths have been recorded since the pandemic began.
“We are seeing these lower numbers because residents are continuing to follow the guidelines on masks, social distancing and disinfecting,” said Brown County Health Department Public Information Officer Margery Paeltz.
“Now is not the time to relax. We need those numbers to continue to drop.”
Last week, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced the benchmark to remove all health orders…an infection rate of 50 per 100,000 residents statewide for two weeks.
That works out to 1 person out of every 2000. In Brown County, the benchmark would be 21 cases in a two week period, or about half of the current case rate.
The latest numbers from the Ohio Department of Health still show Brown County in red status for community spread, but the rate continues to drop. 46 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Brown County from February 24 through March 9, down from 57 cases in the previous two week period.
Brown County has the 67th highest COVID rate in the state at 105.91 per 100,000 people. Just three weeks ago, Brown County led the state in infection rate.
The statewide average is 155.0, which is about three times higher than the rate needed to remove all health orders.
Meigs County is the only county in the state to have an infection rate below 50, but the numbers as a whole are looking better. This week, there are 21 counties with an infection rate below 100 per 100,000 and 66 counties above 100.
For context, there were only 12 counties that had an infection rate below 100 for the previous two week period, so ten more counties fell below the 100 threshold in one week.
In a statewide address to Ohioans on March 4, DeWine urged Ohioans to remain committed to following COVID-19 safety practices as Ohio cases trend downward.
“This has been a very tough year for Ohioans, yet we did what Ohioans always do— we rallied together to protect the most vulnerable,” said Governor DeWine. “The end of our fight is now in view, but we must continue pressing forward. We can set realistic goals that we are within reach for lifting health orders.”
To keep the momentum going, the Brown County Health Department is holding another drive through vaccination clinic on March 17 at the Brown County Fairgrounds beginning at 10 a.m. Those eligible are age 50 and above.
DeWine has also announced that 15 long-term mass vaccination clinics will open throughout Ohio to significantly expand regional access to COVID-19 vaccines.
The state-sponsored mass vaccination clinics will be located in Lima, Maumee, Dayton, Columbus, Akron, Youngstown, Cincinnati, Chillicothe, Marietta, Wilmington, and Zanesville.
“Mass vaccination clinics have always been part of our plan, but adequate supply is necessary for larger sites, so it was crucial that we first established local provider sites in all 88 counties to ensure that every citizen in every community has a provider nearby,” said Governor DeWine. “Now that we have more than 1,250 local vaccine providers and a significant increase in vaccine supply expected at the end of March, this is the right time to finalize and prepare to launch these large-scale regional clinics.”
The regional mass vaccination clinics, which will begin opening in the coming weeks as supply becomes available, will operate until they are no longer necessary.
In addition to the mass vaccination sites announced above, a “pop-up” mass vaccination site is coming to Cincinnati on March 18-20 at the Cintas Center. Those dates are for first doses, with second doses to follow on April 8-10. The clinic will be walk-in, and will be open from 8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. and will offer approximately 10,000 doses.
Any Ohioan who is eligible to receive the vaccine under the Ohio Department of Health’s vaccination plan may be vaccinated at any of Ohio’s mass vaccination clinics.
Several appointment-scheduling options will be available, including the use of Ohio’s forthcoming central scheduling system for some sites. The sites are not yet taking reservations, but specific instructions on how to book an appointment will be announced later this month. Dates of operation and hours will vary, but sites will offer both weekday and weekend appointments.
For details on the 15 permanent mass vaccination sites located regionally across the state, visit coronavirus.ohio.gov.
.neFileBlock {
margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
padding-bottom: 5px;
padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
font-size: 85%;
}