SIDNEY – Shelby County dropped below the high incidence threshold for COVID-19 cases, Gov. Mike DeWine announced during his press conference Thursday afternoon.
During a two-week period from Feb. 10 to Feb. 23, Shelby County reported 41 new cases of COVID-19 among its 48,590 residents. That equates to an incidence rate of 84.4 cases per 100,000 residents, below the threshold of 100 that is considered high incidence.
Along with Shelby County, Vinton (61.1), Williams (70.9), Holmes (75.1) and Mercer (92.3) counties are below the high incidence threshold.
Also for the first time since November, Shelby County dropped from Level 3, red, to Level 2, orange, on the Ohio Public Health Advisory System. Level 2 indicates there is increased exposure and spread of COVID-19 in the county while Level 3 indicates there is very high exposure and spread of COVID-19 in the county.
Shelby County has reported 4,401 cases of COVID-19 with 143 hospitalizations and 68 deaths during the pandemic. The county saw an increase of three hospitalizations and two deaths since last week.
There are 4,229 Shelby County residents who are presumed to have recovered from COVID-19, and there are 104 active cases – down from the 135 active cases that were reported last week.
Throughout Ohio there have been 962,404 cases of COVID-19 with 49,951 hospitalizations, 7,104 intensive care admissions and 17,125 deaths.
During his press conference Thursday, DeWine announced there were 2,409 new cases of COVID-19 reported throughout the state in the previous 24 hours. That’s down from the 21-day average of 2,455 cases.
Ohio reported 163 new hospitalizations, which is up from the 21-day average of 135. There were 21 new ICU admissions, which is up from the 21-day average of 14. Ohio also reported 80 new deaths, which is down from the 21-day average of 267.
In Shelby County, 4,428 people have received a COVID-19 vaccination, which is 9.11% of the population and up 191 people since last week. Statewide, 1,530,823 people have received a vaccine, which is 13.1% of the population.
Vaccines are available for select populations including health care workers, EMS personnel, residents and staff of long-term care facilities, people 65 and older, people with intellectual or developmental disabilities and people with certain medical conditions.
Local vaccine providers include the Sidney-Shelby County Health Department, Wilson Health, Kroger Pharmacy, Walgreens and CVS.
To receive vaccine notifications from Wilson Health and the Health Department, visit www.shelbycountyhealthdept.org or call 937-498-7249.
To make an appointment with Kroger, visit www.kroger.com/rx/guest/get-vaccinated or call 866-211-5320.
To make an appointment with Walgreens, visit www.walgreens.com/findcare/vaccination/covid-19 or call 937-492-5340.
To make an appointment with CVS, visit cvs.com, use the CVS app or call 800-679-9691.
For those 65 and older who need transportation assistance to receive a vaccination, contact the Area Agencies on Aging at www.aging.ohio.gov or call 866-243-5678.
For more information about COVID-19, visit https://coronavirus.ohio.gov and www.shelbycountyhealthdept.org.
