COVID-19 rate in Delaware County remains low

In its latest newsletter, the Delaware Public Health District (DPHD) said the current COVID-19 community level is low.

A link on the update goes to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). A map of Ohio shows that Delaware County and most surrounding counties also are at a low level. However, Marion County and many others have a medium COVID-19 level. Eleven of the state’s 88 counties have a high COVID-19 level.

“COVID-19 Community Levels were calculated on Thursday, Dec. 15, 2022,” the CDC said. The metrics are, “New COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population (weekly total) are calculated using data from Thursday, Dec. 8, 2022 — Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022. New COVID-19 admissions per 100,000 population (seven-day total) and percent of inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients (seven-day average) are calculated using data from Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022 — Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2022.”

The CDC recommends the following when the COVID-19 community level is low: “Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines. Get tested if you have symptoms. Wear a mask if you have symptoms, a positive test, or exposure to someone with COVID-19. Wear a mask on public transportation. You may choose to wear a mask at any time as an additional precaution to protect yourself and others.”

Nearly 82% of Delaware County residents, or 171,371 people, have had at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, and 78% have completed their primary series of shots.

Nationwide, 99.7 million cases of COVID-19 have been reported, resulting in more than a million deaths. However, cases, deaths, and hospital admissions due to the infectious disease are all trending down.

This time of year, there’s a lot going around: the cold, flu, RSV and COVID-19. Perhaps of most concern to parents currently is the measles, where an outbreak of more than 70 cases has been reported recently in central Ohio. Measles is a viral infection that includes a skin rash of red dots.

The DPHD has issued a School Response Plan for measles exposures in four steps:

• Once a child is determined to have a case of measles, they will be immediately excluded from the school building.

• All unvaccinated students and staff will be excluded from the school building as soon as possible. Unvaccinated people have 90% chance of getting measles if exposed.

• The Health District and your student’s school will begin working to identify students who were exposed to the case of measles.

• The Health District will notify the families of the students who were exposed.

Assistant Editor Gary Budzak covers the eastern half of Delaware County and surrounding areas. He may be reached at the above email address.