Ohio's Waning COVID-19 Surge, 'Hopeful Better Days Ahead'

OHIO — COVID-19 cases are dropping precipitously around Ohio, according to the state health department.

Hospitalizations related to the virus are dropping statewide — though hospitalization rates are dropping more slowly in southern and central Ohio, according to Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, director of the Ohio Department of Health.

"We're feeling hopeful as we begin February that better days are ahead," he said. "But remember, we are still a very long way from having case levels like those we were seeing in late spring and early fall."

The question now facing Ohioans, Vanderhoff said, is how we learn to live with the constant threat of COVID-19...and whether or not we've moved from a pandemic to an endemic virus.

Pandemic vs Endemic

The term pandemic is primarily used in relation to a virus that is spreading through a population with no immunity, said Dr. Joe Gastaldo, medical director of infectious diseases, OhioHealth.

"That's really exactly what happened with COVID-19. We had a novel coronavirus appear in our population where nobody in the world had any degree of immunity," he said.

Endemic is used to describe a disease or infection that persists in populations indefinitely, Gastaldo said.

"What that means for the virus is that instead of these big peaks, there will always be a baseline level of some type of infection or activity going on and it may go up or down based on the seasons," he said.

One example of an endemic virus or infection is the flu, Vanderhoff noted.

To boost Ohio's immunity and move COVID-19 toward an endemic classification, Vanderhoff and Gastaldo want to see more people vaccinated. According to the Ohio Department of Health, 61.4 percent of all Ohioans have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Approximately 3.3 million Ohioans have received a COVID-19 vaccine booster.

"It's clear there's a real benefit with getting your vaccine up-to-date," Vanderhoff said.

Omicron's History in Ohio

The omicron variant of COVID-19 arrived in Ohio in late 2021, coming on the heels of a delta variant driven surge in northern Ohio. The new variant spurred record-breaking numbers of new cases and hospitalizations in the Buckeye State.

The variant first drove cases up in Greater Cleveland. Cuyahoga County — where Cleveland is located — soared to the top of Ohio's county-based COVID-19 case rates, with 1,200 cases per 100,000 residents in late December.

"Within just one week that number more than doubled to 2,500 cases per 100,000 residents," Vanderhoff said. "It then peaked at over 3,000 cases per 100,000 one week later."

However, as quickly as the surge arrived in Cuyahoga County, it began to fade. As February arrives, Cuyahoga County's case rate is now 268 cases per 100,000 residents, Vanderhoff noted. That's the lowest cases per capita of all Ohio counties.

"This dramatic climb and subsequent fall illustrates the rapid cycle of omicron," Vanderhoff said. He added that over the past three weeks, hospitalization levels fell 65 percent in northern Ohio, but have fallen at slower rates in other regions, indicating the omicron surge is slowing statewide.