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With COVID-19 cases in the state at the lowest level since last July, the Ohio Department of Health will move from daily to weekly virus-data reports.
The last daily report will be Sunday and weekly data -- including cases, hospitalizations and vaccinations -- will be reported on Thursdays, said Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, ODH director.
"The situation is evolving, and our experience with COVID-19 is evolving from that of a pandemic to more of an endemic," he said Thursday.
Vanderhoff added: "We're entering a new phase of our experience with COVID-19. Case numbers and community transmission have continued to drop steadily as have hospitalizations."
The daily updates have been provided for the past two years, dating back to March 2020 when the first COVID-19 cases were reported in Ohio.
"Ohio is one of only a handful of states still reporting COVID-19 cases daily," Vanderhoff said.
One reason for the shift is to align the state with changes made by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, he said.
The CDC on Feb. 25 "moved away from relying on these daily case numbers as the sole measure of risk," Vanderhoff said. "Now instead, the CDC is focused on the severity of illness in the community as reflected by the percentage of hospital capacity that's devoted to caring for COVID-19 patients as well as the number of new COVID patients admitted to hospitals over the past week."
Also, effective immediately, school districts no longer will be required to report positive COVID-19 cases to local health districts unless the district tests the students, Vanderhoff said.
CASES PER 100,000
For the first time in more than seven months, the rate of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 Ohioans is less than 100.
There were 70.4 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents for the period between Feb. 24 and Wednesday, compared to 104.7 cases per 100,000 last week, according to ODH data provided Thursday.
The state saw a 33 percent reduction in cases per 100,000 residents from last week. It was the seventh consecutive week of declines after 11 straight weeks of increases.
Of the state's 88 counties, 61 of them are at low risk including Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties.
The rate hasn't been this low since July 22, 2021, when 45.8 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents were reported by the ODH.
Ohio had 160.7 cases per 100,000 residents two weeks ago, 255.8 COVID-19 cases three weeks ago, 481 COVID-19 cases four weeks ago and 949.5 COVID-19 cases five weeks ago. It hit a record-high 2,154.8 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents seven weeks ago.
Also, the state's COVID-19 hospitalization rate has declined from its Jan. 11 peak of 6,729 to 718 Thursday, according to Ohio Hospital Association statistics.
VALLEY RATES
The rate of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents continues to decline in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties.
Mahoning is 68th in the state this week among the 88 counties with 54.2 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents.
It was 71st last week with 77.8 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents. Mahoning was 69th two weeks ago with 126.4 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents, 69th three weeks ago with 208.6 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents, 74th four weeks ago with 344.6 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents and 77th five weeks ago with 620.9 COVID-19 cases per 100,000.
Trumbull is 64th this week with 59.6 cases per 100,000 residents.
It was 69th last week with 79.8 cases per 100,000 residents. Trumbull was 72nd two weeks ago with 126.4 cases per 100,000 residents, 76th three weeks ago with 166.7 cases per 100,000 residents, 78th four weeks ago with 294.5 cases per 100,000 residents and also 78th five weeks ago with 541 cases per 100,000.
Columbiana is 47th in the state this week with 76.1 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents.
It was 32nd last week with 132.5 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents. Columbiana was 41st two weeks ago with 185.5 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents, 49th three weeks with 278.8 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents, 65th four weeks ago with 442.7 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents and 70th five weeks ago with 784.2 COVID-19 cases per 100,000.
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.