The number of COVID-19 cases in Ohio has increased by almost five times in just three weeks.

The Ohio Department of Health reported Thursday 125.1 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 state residents for July 22 to Wednesday. The state was at 27 cases per 100,000 residents just three weeks ago.

Last week, Ohio was at 77.4 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents and at 45.8 two weeks ago.

The 125.1 cases per 100,000 is the highest for Ohio in four months.

The delta variant among the unvaccinated, which spreads quickly, is largely to blame for the spike, according to health officials.

Only four of the state’s 88 counties are below 50 cases per 100,000 residents with 28 below 100 cases per 100,000 people.

Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana all exceed 100 COVID-19 cases per 100,000, but are in the bottom half among the state’s counties.

The latest ODH ranking by county has Mahoning at 52nd with 110.6 cases per 100,000. That’s almost double the 59.9 cases per 100,000 in the county last week when Mahoning ranked 56th in the state. It was 54th two weeks ago with 33.7 cases per 100,000 and also 54th three weeks ago with 21.4 cases.

Trumbull is at 55th this week with 105.1 COVID-19 cases per 100,000. It was 46th last week with 67.7 cases per 100,000. It was 58th two weeks ago with 31.3 cases and 61st three weeks ago with 17.7 cases.

Columbiana had the most cases per 100,000 residents in the Valley this week at 116.3, ranking it 46th in Ohio. It was 42nd last week with 67.7 cases per 100,000 residents. It was 39th two weeks ago at 31.3 cases and 70th three weeks ago with 19.7 cases.

The ODH measures cases per 100,000 residents among the counties to get a fair comparison because total cases would result in more-populous counties ranking higher.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continue to list Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana as substantial COVID-19 transmission counties because it has more than 50 cases per 100,000 residents according to its measurements.

The CDC recommends everyone, including those vaccinated, in substantial or high-transmission counties wear face masks though it’s not mandated.

The CDC’s time period for the rating is July 28 to Tuesday.

It shows Mahoning at 74.78 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents, Trumbull at 70.21 and Columbiana at 76.56.

COVID-19 DATA

The 1,969 new COVID-19 cases reported Thursday is up from the daily average of 1,007 for the past 21 days, according to the ODH.

The 21-day average Wednesday was 939 and 855 on Tuesday. About a month ago, Ohio was averaging about 260 cases per day.

The 1,969 cases came a day after 2,167 were reported. It was the first time Ohio exceeded 2,000 cases since April 16.

There were 9,390 total cases reported in June and 10,309 reported in the past seven days.

The state had a total of 1,136,934 COVID-19 cases as of Thursday with 1,093,887 presumed recovered.

The ODH usually provides death information on Tuesdays and Fridays. There were 20,530 reported COVID-19 deaths as of Tuesday.

Mahoning County had 22,944 total COVID-19 cases as of Thursday with 21,953 presumed recovered and 614 deaths, according to the ODH.

Trumbull County had 16,985 total COVID-19 cases as of Thursday with 16,157 presumed recovered and 493 deaths.

Columbiana County had 9,310 total COVID-19 cases as of Thursday with 8,911 presumed recovered and 236 deaths.

For the past few weeks in Ohio, the number of COVID-19 cases has been significantly greater than the number of presumed recovered.

Also Thursday, the ODH reported 10 new COVID-19 cases, six residents and four employees, in the past week at Shepherd of the Valley nursing home in Liberty. The ODH also listed five new COVID-19 cases in residents in the past week at the Gillette Nursing Home in Warren.

VACCINATIONS

There were 5,813,529 people, 49.73 percent of the state’s population, who had at least started getting inoculated as of 6 a.m. Thursday, including 12,992 in the previous 24 hours, according to the ODH.

In Mahoning County, 48.21 percent of the population (110,242 people) had received at least one dose while 45.95 percent of the population in Trumbull County (90,969 people) and 38.87 percent in Columbiana County (39,600 people) had as of 6 a.m. Thursday, according to the ODH.

There were 5,413,790 people, 46.31 percent of the state’s population,who finished the vaccinations as of 6 a.m. Thursday, including 6,545 in the prior 24 hours.

In Mahoning County, 44.81 percent of the population (102,482 people) had completed the process, 42.44 percent of the population in Trumbull (84,012 people) and 36.36 percent of the population in Columbiana (37,045 people) had as of 6 a.m. Thursday.

dskolnick@vindy.com