COVID-19 cases increased by 968 statewide over the July 4th weekend, and in the hot spot of Trumbull County, 39 new cases and one new death since Friday were reported.

On Thursday, Gov. Mike DeWine identified Trumbull County as a hot spot for the virus. He categorized the county under a Level 3 (red) COVID-19 alert level, meaning there is very high exposure and spread.

In Trumbull County, there have been a total of 968 COVID-19 cases and 70 related deaths.

With the alert, the Trumbull County Combined Health District is recommending that everyone limit their daily activities, avoid mass gatherings, practice social distancing and wear masks.

According to the Trumbull County Combined Health District report, 212 people have been hospitalized.

There are 54 people in quarantine in the county and 54 people in quarantine in the city of Warren. The county is tracking 16 suspected cases.

There have been 708 people in the county who have been successfully released from quarantine and 201 people in the city of Warren, according to the health department.

In Mahoning County, the state’s department of health reported 1,825 cases, an increase of seven from Saturday, 363 hospitalizations and 232 deaths, an increase of one.

In Columbiana County, there were 1,303 cases with an increase of eight, 152 hospitalizations and 60 deaths.

Statewide there were 57,151 cases, 2,911 deaths and 8,172 hospitalizations reported Sunday by the Ohio Department of Health. The deaths increased by four since Saturday.

DeWine said Friday, the public is now moving into a phase where people must learn to live with the virus He said, going forward, they will maintain baseline orders like distancing but a new “warning system” is coming.

DeWine says this system will provide lawmakers and health officials with data from across the state. They will start looking at different regions of the state instead of the state as a whole.

A four-level color coded system will be used to show the extent of virus spread in the state, according to DeWine.

The four levels will be determined by seven data points such as new cases per capita, sustained increase in new cases, spread in not-congregate settings, sustained increase in emergency room visits, sustained increase in outpatient visits and sustained increase in COVID-19 hospital admissions.

Dewine calls the dramatic rise in cases a ‘worrisome trend’ saying there is likely community spread in every county in the state.

Meanwhile, the state still is wrestling with whether to mandate the wearing of masks. Various Ohio cities are instituting their own mask mandates.

COVID-19 by the numbers

The number of cases, hospitalizations and deaths in counties in the region and statewide as of DAY:

County Cases Hospitalizations Deaths

Trumbull 968 215 70

Mahoning 1,825 363 232

Columbiana 1303 152 60

Geauga 405 85 42

Ohio 57,151 8,172 2,911

SOURCE: Ohio Department of Health