The number of COVID-19 cases in Ohio seems to have peaked, with Gov. Mike DeWine urging people to get vaccinated to keep the virus under control.

“The good news is we’re seeing what certainly appears to be a plateau in new cases,” he said Wednesday. “We’ll feel better when we see the numbers go down. It’s at a high rate, but it’s not going up. We’re seeing a significant leveling off.”

DeWine will be at the Covelli Centre in Youngstown today to discuss the “establishment of a simplified process for getting vaccination appointments in Youngstown and the option to obtain a free ride to get the shot,” according to his office. The center has been used as a vaccination clinic site by the city.

Wednesday marked the fifth-straight day with fewer than 2,000 COVID-19 cases.

More than 38 percent of the state’s population has at least started getting the vaccine, but DeWine said “the virus is more contagious than ever.”

Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, Ohio Department of Health’s chief medical officer, said: “If you’re counting on herd immunity to protect you, you can’t rely on that.”

The virus is now in more contagious forms that put younger people at much greater risk, including ending up in the hospital, he said.

Vanderhoff added: “The unvaccinated are playing a COVID lottery and the consequences of the lottery are pretty strong.”

The 1,789 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday was down from the daily average of 1,944 for the past 21 days, according to the ODH.

The state had a total of 1,058,395 COVID-19 cases as of Wednesday with 1,000,892 presumed recovered.

The ODH provides death information only on Tuesdays and Fridays. There were 19,033 COVID-19 deaths in the state as of Tuesday.

Mahoning County had 21,029 total COVID-19 cases as of Wednesday with 19,709 presumed recovered and 584 deaths, according to the ODH.

Trumbull County had 15,666 total COVID-19 cases as of Wednesday with 14,645 presumed recovered and 461 deaths.

Columbiana County had 8,589 total COVID-19 cases as of Wednesday with 8,147 presumed recovered and 226 deaths.

VACCINATIONS

There were 4,447,776 people, 38.05 percent of the state’s population, who had at least started the vaccination process as of 6 a.m. Wednesday, including 29,929 in the previous 24 hours, according to the ODH.

In Mahoning County, 38.05 percent of the population (87,599 people) had received at least one dose with 36.45 percent of the population in Trumbull County (72,158 people) and 31.04 percent in Columbiana County (31,627 people) as of 6 a.m. Wednesday, according to the ODH.

There were 3,219,444 people, 27.54 percent of the state’s population,who finished the vaccinations as of 6 a.m. Wednesday, including 66,425 in the previous 24 hours.

In Mahoning County, 28.7 percent of the population (65,623 people) had completed the process while 26.02 percent of the population in Trumbull (51,510 people) and 24.21 percent of the population in Columbiana (24,666 people) had as of 6 a.m. Wednesday.

COVID-19 by the numbers

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

County Cases Change since Change since Deaths*

yesterday last week

Trumbull 15,666 +13 +166 461

Mahoning 21,029 +38 +252 584

Columbiana 8,589 +12 +74 226

Ohio 1,058,395 +1,789 +12,450 19,033

SOURCE: Ohio Department of Health

*Death numbers are as of Tuesday