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New COVID-19 cases nearly hit 5,000 Thursday, setting yet another record with 4,961 reported cases, according to the Ohio Department of Health.
Trumbull and Mahoning counties stayed at Level 3, red, and Columbiana County remains at Level 2, orange, following an update Thursday of the Ohio Public Health Advisory System.
The number of people hospitalized because of a COVID-19 infection in the state increased by 55 percent Thursday, compared to two weeks ago. There are 2,075 patients hospitalized with COVID-19. And, of the hospitalized patients, 541 people are in intensive care. The previous record for intensive care admissions was 533 in April, according to Gov. Mike DeWine's office.
"This virus is flaring up, and we have to push it down -- the economy depends on it," DeWine said Thursday. "If the virus continues to aggressively spread, people will lose confidence in their ability to safely go to stores, restaurants, and other businesses. If we want to keep our economy moving, we must all live with this virus, and we must all be more careful."
The increase in cases isn't simply due to increased testing, DeWine said.
Since Sept. 24, the total number of tests in Ohio increased by approximately 44 percent, but positive cases increased 280 percent in the same time period, according to DeWine's office. If a person is tested multiple times, they are only counted once.
Now all of the state's 88 counties are considered "high incidence," by standards set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Counties are considered high incidence if there are more than 100 cases per 100,000 people.
In Trumbull County, the rate is 164.16 cases per 100,000 people, according to data released Thursday. That is an increase over last week, when there were 117.19 cases per 100,000 people.
In Mahoning County, the rate is 216.02 per 100,000 people, up from 139.06 last Thursday.
The rate is at 164.9 in Columbiana County, up from 116.8 reported last Thursday.
"There have been so many cases in the past two weeks that the risk of catching this virus in every county of this state is very real and very concerning," DeWine said. "Again, I ask everyone to recognize their personal responsibility in slowing the spread of this deadly disease. It's up to every citizen in Ohio to choose to slow the spread by wearing masks, distancing, and making overall smart decisions."
Mahoning and Trumbull counties are two of the 56 rated as having a "very high risk of exposure and spread" at Level 3, up from 43 counties last week.
"This represents the highest number of Red Level 3 counties since the launch of the advisory system in July. As of today, 86 percent of Ohioans are living in a Red Level 3 county," according to DeWine's office.
SCHOOL NUMBERS
There were 12 students and 10 staff members in Columbiana, Mahoning and Trumbull school districts with a new diagnosis of COVID-19, according to the Ohio Department of Health.
Trumbull and Columbiana school districts each identified five new students with the virus.
The weekly ODH COVID-19 dashboard for schools is updated every Thursday. It provides a snapshot of current and cumulative cases from schools and provide information from Monday through Sunday. Thursday's statistics were from Oct. 26 through Nov. 1.
Schools and districts provide the COVID-19 information to their local health departments, which, in turn, give it to the ODH for its records.
In Columbiana County, Beaver School District had two new cases. East Liverpool, Lisbon and Salem school districts each had one new student case. In Trumbull, two of the new virus cases were in Champion. There was one new case each in Bloomfield, LaBrae and Lakeview.
Salem school district identified three staff members and Beaver Schools reported one staff member with the virus.
Sebring and South Range school districts in Mahoning County each reported one new student case. There were no new staff cases in Mahoning County.
ODH identified a total of 64 cumulative student cases in the three-county region. With 37, Trumbull school districts have the most cumulative student cases, followed by Mahoning school districts with 15 and Columbiana districts with 12 cumulative cases.
Champion school district, which has 16 students with previously reported cases of the virus, has the most in the three-county region.
Lakeview had four students with previously reported cases; Niles, three; Labrae, Liberty and Newton Falls Exempted Village, two; and Bloomfield, Brookfield, Girard, Howland, Hubbard, JFK upper and lower campuses, McDonald and Trumbull County Career and Technical Center each had one student with a previously identified virus case.
In Columbiana County, Salem had three students with previously reported virus cases. Lisbon, Crestview Columbiana Exempted Village and Beaver school districts each had two students previously identified with the virus. East Liverpool had one case.
One school in Mahoning County, Potential Development School for Autism, had four students who previously were identified with the virus, according the the ODH website. Poland and South Range schools each has two students previously identified with the virus. Other Mahoning schools, including Sebring, St. Nicholas, Stambaugh Charter, Struthers, Ursuline, Valley Christian and Western Reserve each had one student previously identified with the virus.
Staff writer Raymond L. Smith contributed to this report.