This week is on pace to have the fewest new COVID-19 cases in the state in more than seven months.

For the first six days of this week, not including today, Ohio had 7,499 reported COVID-19 cases, an average of slightly fewer than 1,250 per day.

If it averages that today, the week will end with about 8,750 cases. Even if it exceeds that average by 500 cases, it still will have a lower number than any week since Sept. 27 to Oct. 3 last year, when 7,957 cases were reported.

Also, since the week of Oct. 4 to 10, every week has had cases that have exceeded 10,000.

The closest the state came to fewer than 10,000 was 10,521 during the week of March 14 to 20. There were 10,586 cases reported last week.

The number of weekly cases was consistently between 50,000 and 70,000 from mid-November to mid-January and has been below 15,000 every week since Feb. 14 to 20.

The 1,397 new cases reported Friday was down from the daily average of 1,496 for the past 21 days, according to the Ohio Department of Health.

Cases have been below 1,500 per day for the first six days of this week.

The state had a total of 1,081,518 COVID-19 cases as of Friday with 1,032,070 presumed recovered and 19,428 deaths.

The ODH provides death information on Tuesdays and Fridays.

There was an increase of 84 deaths on Friday, including two each in Mahoning and Trumbull counties.

Mahoning County had 21,511 total COVID-19 cases as of Friday with 20,291 presumed recovered and 588 deaths, according to the ODH.

Trumbull County had 16,019 total COVID-19 cases as of Friday with 15,089 presumed recovered and 468 deaths.

Columbiana County had 8,766 total COVID-19 cases as of Friday with 8,334 presumed recovered and 229 deaths.

INOCULATIONS

There were 4,804,893 people, or 40.61 percent of the state’s population, who had at least started getting vaccinated as of 6 a.m. Friday, including 19,533 in the previous 24 hours, according to the ODH.

In Mahoning County, 40.61 percent of the population (92,869 people) had received at least one dose, as well as 38.74 percent of the population in Trumbull County (76,692 people) and 33.01 percent in Columbiana County (33,631 people) as of 6 a.m. Friday, according to the ODH.

There were 4,059,347 people, 34.73 percent of the state’s population,who finished the vaccinations as of 6 a.m. Friday, including 54,895 in the prior 24 hours.

In Mahoning County, 34.75 percent of the population (79,471 people) had completed the process while 32.52 percent of the population in Trumbull (64,388 people) and 28.87 percent of the population in Columbiana (29,419 people) had as of 6 a.m. Friday.

The Mahoning Valley’s mass vaccination clinic at the former Dillard’s in the Southern Park Mall, Boardman, is open 9:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. today. It’s offering the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine. Up to 80 walk-ins will be permitted.

Additional appointment dates and times will be announced.

dskolnick@vindy.com