Sandusky County's COVID cases fall 40.7%; Ohio cases plummet 14%

Mike Stucka USA TODAY NETWORK

Brockton Board of Health Executive Director Eno Mondesir speaks at a news conference announcing a new COVID-19 PCR testing facility at the Shaw's Center in the Massachusetts city on Sept. 2. The city reported 125 COVID-19 cases in the last week of August, and 18 hospitalizations.

Ohio reported far fewer coronavirus cases in the week ending Sunday, adding 21,731 new cases. That's down 14% from the previous week's tally of 25,280 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.

Ohio ranked 10th 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 coronavirus cases in the United States decreased 4.7% from the week before, with 507,209 cases reported. With 3.51% of the country's population, Ohio had 4.28% of the country's cases in the last week. Across the country, three states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.

The Labor Day holiday may have altered how many people can get tested and when, and when governments report testing results and deaths. This will skew week-to-week comparisons.

Sandusky County reported 83 cases and zero deaths in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 140 cases and zero deaths. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 15,815 cases and 245 deaths.

Across Ohio, cases fell in 66 counties, with the best declines in Cuyahoga County, with 2,031 cases from 2,411 a week earlier; in Butler County, with 841 cases from 1,114; and in Hamilton County, with 1,353 cases from 1,620.

>> See how your community has fared with recent coronavirus cases

Within Ohio, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Gallia County with 545 cases per 100,000 per week; Athens County with 525; and Meigs County with 519. The Centers for Disease Control says high levels of community transmission begin at 100 cases per 100,000 per week.

Adding the most new cases overall were Cuyahoga County, with 2,031 cases; Franklin County, with 1,847 cases; and Hamilton County, with 1,353. Weekly case counts rose in 19 counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week's pace were in Darke, Huron and Meigs counties.

In Ohio, zero people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, nine people were reported dead.

A total of 3,096,557 people in Ohio have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 39,576 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 95,250,705 people have tested positive and 1,050,323 people have died.

>> Track coronavirus cases across the United States

Ohio's COVID-19 hospital admissions staying flat

USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Sunday, Sept. 11. Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:

Last week: 2,170
The week before that: 2,151
Four weeks ago: 2,146

Likely COVID patients admitted in the nation:

Last week: 60,585
The week before that: 61,376
Four weeks ago: 69,436

Hospitals in 16 states reported more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in 22 states had more COVID-19 patients in intensive-care beds. Hospitals in 19 states admitted more COVID-19 patients in the latest week than a week prior, the USA TODAY analysis of U.S. Health and Human Services data shows.