Staff, wire report

COVID-19 cases still are climbing.

The Ohio Department of Health reported 926 new cases of COVID-19 across the state Saturday, breaking a three-day run of reported cases exceeding daily 1,000-plus counts.

As of Saturday, the department reported 56,183 cases of the virus.

The death count, however, only rose by four for Ohio, with 2,907 recorded as of Saturday.

The number of reported cases in the Mahoning Valley are not as steep as the state’s figures.

Mahoning County reported 1,818 cases, with Trumbull at 925 and Columbiana with 1,295.

No change in deaths in the Valley was recorded from Friday to Saturday.

Hospitalizations were up slightly in comparison to previous weeks, with the state at 8,111 — an increase from 8,084 the day before.

Mahoning County had 362 hospitalizations, while Trumbull had 215 and Columbiana, 152.

Meanwhile, the state still is wrestling with whether to mandate the wearing of masks.

In April, Gov. Mike DeWine took a hardline stance on masks, saying they’d be the only way businesses can reopen after he lifted the stay-at-home order. Facing pressure, he reversed that stance.

Last week, referencing worsening outbreaks in Montgomery and Hamilton counties, DeWine floated the idea of implementing a mask mandate on a county-by-county basis. The state has not done so yet, but by Wednesday, cities such as Dayton and Springfield in southwest Ohio had passed their own mandates.

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