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The number of COVID-19 cases in Ohio has increased by almost 13 times the amount in six weeks and continues to be on the rise.
The state was at 338.1 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents for the period between Aug. 12 and Wednesday, according to statistics provided Thursday by the Ohio Department of Health.
The ODH reported the state was at 27 cases per 100,000 people July 15.
The state was at 259.2 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 last week.
It was at 194.2 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents two weeks ago. Three weeks ago, it was 125.1 cases per 100,000. Ohio was at 77.4 cases four weeks ago and at 45.8 cases five weeks ago.
Meanwhile, Theory, the scheduled opening act for Shinedown at the Canfield Fair on Sept. 6, the last day of the fair, has canceled that show and all of its September concerts because of the pandemic.
The announcement was made Thursday on the Canfield Fair's Facebook page.
The fair isn't offering refunds because Theory was the opening act and Shinedown is still scheduled to perform. A new opening act will be announced soon.
"Thank you for your understanding in this unfortunate situation," the fair's Facebook post read.
Theory wrote on its Facebook page: "We have decided that with the current surge in COVID cases, made worse by delta variant breakthrough cases, this is the right thing to do to ensure the safety of our fans and crew members. This wasn't an easy choice for us, but we feel it is the right one."
The delta variant among the unvaccinated, which spreads quickly, is almost entirely to blame for the increase Ohio has seen in cases in recent weeks, said Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, ODH's director.
All of the state's 88 counties are above 100 cases per 100,000 residents. Only one county was above 100 cases per 100,000 on July 15.
COUNTY RANKINGS
The latest ODH ranking by county has Trumbull with the second-fewest cases with Mahoning and Columbiana in the middle of the pack.
All three counties, like the rest of the state, continue to see significant increases in the number of cases over the past few weeks.
Mahoning is 56th in the state with 306.5 COVID-19 cases per 100,000.
It was 62nd last week with 220.4 COVID-19 cases per 100,000. It was 66th two weeks ago with 158.3 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents. It was 52nd three weeks ago with 110.6 cases, 56th four weeks ago with 59.9 cases and 54th five weeks ago with 33.7 cases.
Trumbull is 87th this week with 203.6 cases per 100,000 residents.
It was 75th last week with 198 cases per 100,000 residents. It was 64th two weeks ago with 162.1 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents. It was at 55th three weeks ago with 105.1 cases per 100,000. It was 46th four weeks ago with 67.7 cases and 58th five weeks ago with 31.3 cases.
Columbiana is 34th this week with 398.5 cases per 100,000 residents.
Last week it was 25th with 333.7 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents.
Two weeks ago it was 52nd in the state with 172.7 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents. It was 46th three weeks ago with 116.3 cases. It was 42nd four weeks ago with 67.7 cases and 39th five weeks ago with 31.3 cases.
The ODH measures cases per 100,000 residents among counties to get a fair comparison because total cases would result in more-populous counties ranking higher.
COVID-19 INFORMATION
The ODH reported 5,395 new COVID-19 cases in the state Thursday. It was the first time the state exceeded 5,000 daily cases since Jan. 28 with 5,432.
It also comes only two days after Ohio went over 4,000 cases for the first time since Feb. 4. On Aug. 11, the state exceeded 3,000 cases for the first time since Feb. 12.
It was the third straight day with cases exceeding 4,000, which hasn't happened since January.
Thursday was the 17th consecutive day in which Ohio exceeded 1,800 daily COVID-19 cases. That includes 10 that had more than 3,000 cases.
The 5,395 new COVID-19 cases reported Thursday is up from the daily average of 2,902 for the past 21 days, according to the ODH.
Of those new cases Thursday, 215 were in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties combined.
The entire state was averaging about 260 cases a day six weeks ago.
SCHOOL KIDS
The ODH also focused Thursday on the rise in COVID-19 cases among school-age children (those between 5 and 18), which experienced an 827 percent increase in cases from the week of July 4 to last week. This is occurring as children either recently have started school or will do so shortly.
"With many districts going back to school last week, the number of illnesses" from COVID-19 "is troubling," Vanderhoff said. "As students statewide continue to return to their classrooms, this high figure should be yet another indicator to parents and families that the best precaution from COVID-19 is for those 12 and older to choose to be vaccinated and for those who aren't vaccinated to wear a mask."
The state had a total of 1,197,873 COVID-19 cases as of Thursday with 1,117,876 presumed recovered.
The ODH usually provides death information on Tuesdays and Fridays. There were 20,729 total COVID-19 deaths reported as of Tuesday.
Mahoning County had 23,972 total COVID-19 cases as of Thursday with 22,329 presumed recovered and 617 deaths.
Trumbull County had 17,745 total COVID-19 cases as of Thursday with 16,526 presumed recovered and 494 deaths.
Columbiana County had 9,938 total COVID-19 cases as of Thursday with 9,098 presumed recovered and 236 deaths.
VACCINATIONS
There were 6,024,148 people, 51.54 percent of the state's population, who had at least started getting inoculated as of 6 a.m. Thursday, including 10,892 in the previous 24 hours, according to the ODH.
In Mahoning County, 49.93 percent of the population (114,191 people) had received at least one dose while 47.72 percent of the population in Trumbull County (94,474 people) and 40.37 percent in Columbiana County (41,129 people) had as of 6 a.m. Thursday, according to the ODH.
There were 5,565,158 people, 47.61 percent of the state's population, who finished the vaccinations as of 6 a.m. Thursday, including 9,383 in the prior 24 hours.
In Mahoning County, 46.04 percent of the population (105,278 people) had completed the process and 43.69 percent of the population in Trumbull (86,502 people) and 37.34 percent of the population in Columbiana (38,047 people) had as of 6 a.m. Thursday.
dskolnick@tribtoday.com