New statewide coronavirus cases remained high Friday, but did not break the record high number of new cases reported Thursday, according to Ohio Department of Health data.

The Ohio Department of Health reported 2,148 new cases Friday, 30 cases short of the 2,178 record set Thursday.

The state has seen 177,991 cases since the pandemic began. Most of the cases ended in recovery — 148,284 so far.

In Mahoning County, 39 new cases were reported Friday. Of the 3,476 cases reported since the pandemic began, 283 have resulted in death. The state estimates 2,844 in the county have recovered.

Sixteen new cases were reported Friday in Trumbull County, bringing the total to 2,141. There have been 134 deaths, and the state estimates 1,814 have recovered from the virus in the county.

In Columbiana County, of the 2,062 cases, nine of which were reported Friday, 87 have ended in death and 1,876 are presumed recovered.

Gov. Mike DeWine said previously cases can increase before deaths do and some spread among young people may not be as deadly in that population. But increased positivity means older and more vulnerable populations are likely to see more exposure down the road if the rate of spread isn’t quelled.

Mahoning County remains at the Level 3 alert for virus spread, the red level. Trumbull and Columbiana counties are at Level 2, the orange level.

Many counties in the state are at risk for increased spread, according to the Ohio Public Health Advisory System.

“We have 70 counties that are either red or high incidence. That’s 10 million Ohioans or 85 percent of the population, living in an area with a high risk of community transmission,” DeWine said Thursday.

He reported on Thursday Ohio had 1,042 COVID-19 inpatients in hospitals, “which is a significant increase from the 563 patients on Sept. 20.”

COVID-19 by the numbers

The number of cases, changes in cases and deaths in counties in the region and statewide as of Friday:

County Cases Change since Change since Deaths

yesterday last week

Trumbull 2,141 +16 +78 134

Mahoning 3,476 +39 +174 283

Columbiana 2,062 +9 +56 87

Ohio 177,991 +2,148 +11,889 5,054

SOURCE: Ohio Department of Health