Ohio COVID-19 case-count uncertainty and reporting changes: weekly coronavirus update for Thursday, May 18

Covid booster shot

Starting this week, the state of Ohio no longer reports the vaccination status of COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations on its dashboard. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)

CLEVELAND, Ohio — The number of new COVID-19 cases in Ohio was down this week once again, with 2,770 being reported in comparison to 3,836 the week before.

However, there is uncertainty over the trends, the Ohio Department of Health warned, because it is catching up on a “backlog of positive COVID-19 cases reported.”

Prior to last week, the weekly case number had fallen for nine weeks in a row, from a recent high of 9,325 on March 2. The high this year was 13,895, reported on Jan. 5.

Case numbers exceeded 10,000 most weeks from last spring through earlier this year.

The number of COVID-19 patients in Ohio hospitals dropped from 317 last week to 243 on Thursday. That number is below the recent high of 1,423 on Dec. 29.

Total reported COVID-19 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic were 42,275.

The total COVID-19 case count since early 2020 has now reached 3,448,064.

A total of 7,586,017 Ohioans have received at least one vaccination, representing about 68.4% of Ohioans age 5 and up.

Starting this week, the state no longer is reporting the vaccination status of COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations.

May 18 recap

* Total reported cases: 3,448,064, up 2770.

* Total reported deaths: 42,275, up 36.

* Total reported hospitalizations: 140,770, up 159.

* Total reported ICU admissions: 15,247, up 16.

May 11 recap

* Total reported cases: 3,445,294, up 3,836.

* Total reported deaths: 42,239, up 26.

* Total reported hospitalizations: 140,611, up 138.

* Total reported ICU admissions: 15,231, up 19.

Gretchen Cuda Kroen covers healthcare for cleveland.com. Read previous stories at this link. Also:

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