“We need need to get in front of that,” Feagins said. “We need to renew our work and our adherence to universal source control, which is masking, social distancing.”
Gov. Mike DeWine on Thursday said Ohio’s battle with the COVID-19 virus has worsened in recent days and weeks. He said through community spread, the virus is moving “fast across Ohio.”
Hospitalizations are a key indicator. The state reported on Friday 1,347 people hospitalized with COVID-19, 247 of whom are in southwest Ohio. More than a quarter of those hospitalized, both statewide and in southwest Ohio, are in intensive care units.
ICU bed availability is less than a third statewide and less than 20 percent in southwest Ohio. Nearly 8 percent of statewide and 10.5 percent of southwest Ohio ICU beds are occupied by COVID-19 patients, according to the Ohio Department of Health.
The state health department reported another record-breaking jump in reported cases on Friday with 2,518. It was the third consecutive day with a record number of cases. Thursday’s record was 2,425 reported cases, and Wednesday’s record was 2,366.
The state broke its record for daily cases reported six times in the past two weeks, and the virus is attributed to nearly 5,200 deaths in Ohio.
“The spread is not in hospitals. It’s not, for the most part, in schools,” said Feagins. "It is in fact at community gatherings, family gatherings.”
Feagins said Ohio doesn’t need to shut down to reduce the spread, but "we just need to adhere to those things we know that work.”
Vice President Mike Pence, who visited Cincinnati on Wednesday, said there will be a vaccine available before the end of the year, but that vaccine won’t be made available to the general public, Feagins said.
“We are preparing to receive and distribute the vaccine for Tier 1 (individuals), which is first responders and direct health care providers of COVID patients by the end of the year,” Feagins said.
The next level, Tier 2, are those who are living in congregate settings, like long-term care facilities.
A vaccine to be distributed to the general public, Feagins said, won’t likely be available until 2021, and he expects it sometime in the spring “at the earliest.”
Feagins said COVID-19 is not much different than any other pathogen or virus, where those with underlying comorbidity, including obesity, “tend to have a worse acute illness and the potential for post-COVID-19 syndrome.” He said those symptoms, like prolonged respiratory or preliminary issues, or prolonged loss of taste or smell, but said no patient’s symptoms and illness are exactly the same as others.
EDITOR’S NOTE: We reported the incorrect number for COVID patients in ICU beds. It has been correct. We apologize for the mistake.
COVID-19: BY THE NUMBERS
Statewide data reported on Friday compared to southwest Ohio (an eight-county district):
Reported hospitalizations: 1,347 statewide, 247 in southwest Ohio
COVID patients in ICU: 370 statewide, 65 in southwest Ohio
Butler County numbers to date: 8,401 cases*, 478 hospitalizations
*State data lags by a few days, Butler County General Health District reported on Friday 8,573 total COVID-19 cases.
SOURCE: Ohio Department of Health, Butler County General Health District.
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