State a broken record on cases

New COVID-19 high mark set for 2nd straight day with 12,864 infections

The day after breaking the record for the most COVID-19 cases reported in a single day, Ohio did it again.

The state had 12,864 new cases reported Wednesday, the day after 12,502 cases were reported, according to the Ohio Department of Health.

"With these numbers, we have a troubling picture -- one that should be a wake-up call for all of Ohio," Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, ODH director, said Wednesday.

Before the past two days, the single-day record in Ohio was 11,885 cases on Nov. 23, 2020.

The case and hospitalization numbers are particularly bad in the northern part of the state, Vanderhoff said.

Gov. Mike DeWine said last week that 1,050 Ohio National Guard members, including 150 medical personnel, would be deployed to hospitals hit the hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vanderhoff said Wednesday that 750 of them, including the 150 medical personnel, would be sent to seven hospitals in northern Ohio by the end of this week. They include St. Elizabeth Youngstown Hospital and St. Joseph Warren Hospital, both operated by Mercy Health, he said.

"Our hospitals need help now," Vanderhoff said.

The National Guard members are being sent to larger regional hospitals so services can be provided there, including medical transport, to help "alleviate pressure" on smaller, rural hospitals, he said.

The other hospitals where the National Guard is heading this week include two each in Summit and Lucas counties and one in Stark County.

The other 300 National Guard members will be deployed by next week, he said.

"We should all be concerned by the tidal wave of COVID hospitalizations, which again is driven largely by the unvaccinated," Vanderhoff said.

The ODH reported 4,778 people in hospitals in the state Wednesday with COVID-19, which is 18.3 percent of all available beds. It's a small decline from 4,797 on Tuesday.

During the past week, the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations has reached its highest point since the December 2020 peak.

Also, 1,204 COVID-19 patients were in Ohio's intensive care units Wednesday, down two from Tuesday, and they made up 25.83 percent of total patients in ICU in the state, according to the ODH.

"COVID-19 is relentless in seeking out those who are not protected" by being vaccinated, Vanderhoff said.

Among those who've been hospitalized with COVID-19 in Ohio since Jan. 1, 44,406 weren't fully vaccinated compared with 2,652 who were, according to the ODH. Also, among those in Ohio who've died from COVID-19 since Jan. 1, 13,327 weren't fully vaccinated and 646 were, according to the ODH.

The state is averaging more than 8,653 cases per day in December through the first 22 days and is on pace to finish the month with 268,250 COVID-19 cases.

That would be the most for a month in Ohio during the pandemic except for December 2020, which had 279,317.