Coronavirus: Hospital admissions rise in Dayton area, nursing home visitations resume July 20

Gov. Mike DeWine is urging people living in Montgomery County and surrounding counties to be aware of the rising concerns for coronavirus in the Dayton area.

DeWine said Montgomery County is going the wrong direction on four of the seven metrics the state is monitoring as the state reopens. He plans to discuss the seven criteria health experts are using during his press conference Thursday.

The governor said the county has gone from an average of 10 cases per day in May to 40 cases per day this month.

He also said in Montgomery County, the number of people in the ICU and on ventilators in the Dayton area has doubled since the beginning of June.

DeWine said the state is moving toward more of a county-by-county response to coronavirus.

The following announcements were made during Monday’s news conference:

• Last week was the first increase in hospital admissions because of COVID-19 in the last month, DeWine said.
• 500 to 550 people were hospitalized last week for COVID-19 and this week the state is up to 650 hospital admissions, with Dayton being one of the regions seeing an increase. There is still adequate hospital capacity in the state despite these increases, the governor said.
• DeWine said the positive rate for COVID-19 in Ohio continues to hover around 4 to 6 percent.
• In Hamilton County between May and June, there were about 30 cases per 100,000 people. Now, Hamilton County is seeing 100 cases per 100,000 people, DeWine said.
• The governor said the state is planning to present updates on additional plans to move the state into the next phase of keeping Ohio open and reopening on Thursday.
• DeWine said health orders currently in place will be extended through this week.
• Beginning July 20, nursing homes will be permitted to have outdoor visitations, as long as all safety standards are met. DeWine said nursing homes should consider case status in their communities, case status in the nursing home, staffing levels, access to adequate testing for residents and staff, PPE supplies and hospital capacity when deciding to reopen for outdoor visits.
• The state has done testing in at least 250 nursing homes and 25,000 people in those locations, according to the Ohio National Guard, which is assisting with testing across the state.
• Medical Director Dr. Michael Doan, Public Health - Dayton & Montgomery, said the area is seeing clusters of cases specifically connected to some workplaces and specific events. Doan expressed concerns with the coming Independence Day holiday weekend.
• Lt. Gov. Jon Husted said the economy is beginning to recover with 100,000 jobs added recently.

LATEST STATE DATA: As of Monday afternoon, there have been at least 51,046 confirmed or probable cases in the state, 2,818 deaths, and 7,746 hospitalizations, according to the Ohio Department of Health.

The case increase from yesterday is 737. There were 11 new deaths reported and 65 new hospitalizations.

Ohio has an estimated population of approximately 11.7 million, census records show.

Of the state’s positive cases, 10% are from Ohio’s prisons. At those prisons, there has been an increase in testing.

[ Local cases, deaths reported to Ohio Department of Health ]

The state reported 17,614 new people being tested bringing the total to 770,860 people tested in Ohio

In the state, 6,908 cases are health care workers, which is 15 percent of the cases.

What you should know today:

• Reports of increases in the number of positive coronavirus cases, especially in southern Ohio, continued last week as 35 cases were reported at Hillspring of Springboro. The cases at Hillspring, on East Central Avenue, emerged after testing the entire facility in recent days, Warren County Health Commissioner Duane Stansbury said. Seven of those tests involved people who were not showing any signs or symptoms of the virus, Stansbury said. The facility initially reported three cases to the state from tests that came back positive late last week and early this week. Those tests prompted the Warren County Combined Health District and Hillspring of Springboro to test all employees and residents at the location, Stansbury said.

Some other things you should know today:

• Dayton Public Schools announced required temperature checks and facial coverings are part of the full safety protocol plan for the 2020-21 academic year, according to a district spokesperson.
• People that received tests at one of the two pop-up test sites in Xenia and Dayton last week may see a delay in receiving their results, according to Five Rivers Health Centers. “The test results are taking longer than we anticipated. We are working diligently with our partners at the lab to get all results as quickly as possible and we will contact the patients who tested positive, first.” Those waiting for updates on their tests in Greene County can call 937-708-3403, and in Montgomery County 937-681-2091.
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