MOUNT VERNON – Knox County turned “yellow” in the state’s Public Health Advisory System on Thursday for the first time in nearly eight months, as COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to decline.
The county triggered one of the state’s seven indicators, which are meant to track coronavirus spread at the local level:
Non-congregate cases: This indicator is flagged if the proportion of a county’s cases occurring in non-congregate settings goes over 50 percent in at least one of the last three weeks. Knox County reached this indicator each of the last three weeks, as roughly 90 percent of the county’s confirmed COVID-19 cases occurred in non-congregate settings during that time.
For the first time in seven months, however, Knox County did not trigger the “new cases per capita” indicator. This indicator is flagged if a county records 50 or more cases per 100,000 residents over the last two weeks.
Knox County recorded 46.53 cases per 100,000 residents over the last two weeks – down from 70.60 last Thursday – with 29 new cases during that time. This marks the county’s lowest per-capita rate since Oct. 15, 2020, according to the Ohio Department of Health (it has declined steadily over the last few months, having peaked at 619.36 on Jan. 7, during the height of the wintertime surge).
For the fourth week in a row, Knox County did not trigger the “new case increase” indicator. It also did not trigger indicators tied to COVID-related emergency department visits, outpatient visits, hospital admissions, or regional ICU bed occupancy rates.
This week marked Knox County’s first time being “yellow” since Oct. 1, 2020. The county had been on the verge of dropping from “orange” to “yellow” for weeks, but could not clear the “new cases per capita” indicator.
Knox County was one of 14 “yellow” counties in Ohio this week, triggering one indicator or fewer. There were 57 “orange” counties (hitting two or three indicators) and 17 “red” counties (hitting four or five indicators).
All seven of Knox County’s neighbors were “orange” this week, marking a change from last Thursday, when Richland County was “red” and Coshocton County was “yellow.”
Knox County had a lower per-capita infection rate than any of its neighbors this week. It also had the lowest test-positivity rate (1.6 percent) last week, according to the ODH.
Counties that are “yellow” are said to have “active exposure and spread” of COVID-19, according to the ODH. Counties that are “orange” are experiencing “increased exposure and spread,” while counties that are “red” are seeing “very high exposure and spread.” Counties that are “purple” are experiencing “severe exposure and spread.”
Ohio’s per-capita infection rate, once a key indicator in determining when COVID-related health orders would be lifted, dropped again this week. It now stands at 97.1 cases per 100,000 residents over the last two weeks, according to the ODH, down from 119.9 last Thursday. This is the sixth straight week the state’s infection rate has dropped.
There were 781 Ohioans hospitalized with COVID-19 on Thursday, down nine percent from a week ago and 31 percent from three weeks ago. The number of statewide hospitalizations peaked on Dec. 15 at 5,308, according to the Ohio Hospital Association.
COVID-related deaths continue to decline statewide, as Ohio prioritized its most vulnerable citizens in the vaccine rollout. Roughly 90 percent of the state’s COVID-19 deaths have involved senior citizens, according to the ODH, and now 75 percent of that population has been vaccinated.
LOCAL NUMBERS: Knox County added 12 new coronavirus cases this week, according to Knox Public Health, down from 27 the week before. There were 20 active cases in Knox County on Thursday, down from 26 a week ago.
There were no Knox County residents hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Thursday afternoon, KPH reported. Seven residents were hospitalized with the virus a week ago.
The county did add 33 new coronavirus-related deaths this week. This was due to “a review of death certificates by the Ohio Department of Health,” KPH spokeswoman Pam Palm said in an email.
“Each of the added deaths were actual cases that were in our total case count, but we were not aware that their deaths had been as a result of COVID-19,” she continued.
“For example, an individual might have had COVID-19 and clinically recovered. Yet, several months later they may die – many times from deteriorating health conditions due to COVID-19 – and the attending physician indicates on the death certificate that COVID-19 was a contributing cause of death.
“It’s only in a re-examination of the death certificates by ODH that the connection to COVID-19 is identified and the individual is listed as a COVID-19 death. This process happens with other health conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure, which cause damage to the body that leads to death, but are not always listed as the cause of death.”
This is not the first time Knox County’s COVID-19 death toll has jumped due to a review of certificates by ODH. The county added 11 new coronavirus deaths on Feb. 11, with most of those individuals listed as passing in November and December.
“We have not had a chance to look at all of the cases, but it looks like most of the recently added individuals died in the later part of 2020,” Palm said this week.
“As time goes on, I am sure there will be more due to the devastating effect COVID-19 can have on the body – it may not kill an individual right away, but it can cause conditions, like blood clots or lung damage that may lead to death later.”
Knox County’s pandemic death toll now stands at 118 residents, with 4,534 having tested positive for the virus, according to KPH. More than 300 county residents have been hospitalized with COVID-19 since the pandemic began, according to the ODH.
Roughly 32 percent of Knox County is at least partially vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the ODH, while 30 percent is fully vaccinated. This lags behind the state average, as 44 percent of Ohio is at least partially vaccinated, while 38 percent is fully vaccinated.
Knox County still has a higher vaccination rate than five of its seven neighbors. Roughly 40 percent of Licking County is at least partially vaccinated, while 57 percent of Delaware County has received a shot.
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