OH Coronavirus Surge Continues: 19K New Cases In Past 24 Hours

OHIO — For the third straight day, Ohio recorded more than 19,000 new COVID-19 cases and more than 450 hospitalizations in a 24-hour period, state health officials confirmed.

The state Department of Health announced Thursday afternoon it had confirmed 19,442 new COVID-19 cases. Ohio has averaged 14,901 new cases per day over the past three weeks.

The state's hospitalization average also continued to climb. In the past 24 hours, at least 453 Ohioans were hospitalized with COVID-19, state health officials said. That's up versus Ohio's three-week average of 330 new COVID-19 hospitalizations per day.

The Ohio Hospital Association said 6,540 Ohioans were hospitalized as of Thursday because of the virus. That means one out of every three hospitalized Ohioans has COVID-19.

COVID-19 hospitalizations have increased 37 percent over the past three weeks and 17 percent over the past week, the hospital group said.

Additionally, 43 Ohioans were moved to intensive care units Thursday for COVID-19; 1,314 Ohioans in all were in ICUs. That means one out of every three ICU patients has COVID-19.

Cuyahoga County is the hardest hit county, in terms of COVID-19, in Ohio. The omicron variant is driving that surge and is responsible for 90 percent of all new cases, according to Terry Allan, health commissioner for the Cuyahoga County Board of Health.

"Frankly, if you're unvaccinated and unmasked in indoor group settings you're really asking to be exposed to omicron," Allan said during a news conference Wednesday.