Seneca County adds 2 confirmed COVID-19 cases

Seneca County's confirmed cases of COVID-19 increased by two to eight cases, while statewide cases increased by 364 from Wednesday to Thursday, according to the Ohio Department of Health website Thursday. Ohio's confirmed cases Thursday totaled 5,512, up from 5,148 Wednesday, 4,782 Tuesday, 4,450 Monday, 4,043 Sunday, 3,739 Saturday and 3,312 Friday. The website reported a 4% death rate. Deaths increased to 213 Thursday, up from 193 Wednesday and 167 Tuesday. Health Commissioner Beth Schweitzer said Seneca County's confirmed cases Thursday included three people hospitalized and one death. Reports from neighboring counties showed: Wood, 42 (22 hospitalized, 2 deaths); Hancock, 17 (6 hospitalized); Huron, 10 (3 hospitalized, 5 recovered, 1 death); Crawford, 12 (1 hospitalized, 4 recovered); Wyandot, 8 (1 hospitalized, 1 death); and Sandusky, 7 (5 hospitalized, 1 death). Counties with 50 or more cases are: Cuyahoga, 1,014 (23 deaths); Franklin, 802 (14 deaths); Hamilton, 473 (13 deaths); Lucas, 403 (16 deaths); Mahoning, 334 (28 deaths); Summit, 221 (12 deaths); Montgomery, 156 (4 deaths); Lorain, 140 (5 deaths); Trumbull, 132 (8 deaths); Stark, 120 (8 deaths); Portage, 116 (14 deaths); Miami, 110 (14 deaths); Butler, 108 (2 deaths); Lake, 106 (5 deaths); Medina, 98 (5 death); Delaware, 84 (2 death); Columbiana, 81 (6 deaths); Licking, 78 (3 deaths); Fairfield, 68; and Warren, 53. The ODH website reported 84 of Ohio's 88 counties have a least one confirmed case. Putnam County continues to be the only northwest Ohio county with no confirmed cases. The ODH reported 1,612 people were hospitalized and 497 were in intensive care units Thursday, an increase from 1,495 hospitalized and 472 in ICU Wednesday, 1,354 people hospitalized and 417 in ICU Tuesday and 1,214 hospitalized and 371 in ICU Monday. The site reported 29% of people who are infected are hospitalized and 9% are in ICU. The website reported 21% of confirmed cases are healthcare workers. The total number of people tested in Ohio is reported to be 55, 985, which includes people tested who voluntarily reported test results to ODH. The age range of confirmed cases in Ohio is from younger than 1 to age 101; 52% are female and 48% are male. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website Thursday reported 427,460 confirmed cases and 14,696 deaths, an increase from 395,011 and 12,754 deaths Wednesday and 374,329 cases and 12,064 deaths Tuesday. Deaths have more than doubled since Saturday. Statistics are from all 50 states, plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, Northern Marianas and U.S. Virgin Islands. The most cases are in New York, estimated to be topping 149,000. Worldwide, the Coronavirus Dashboard (ncov2019.live/data) reported the number of cases increased Thursday to 1.58 million, up from 1.5 million Wednesday, 1.41 million Tuesday, 1.33 million Monday, 1.26 million Sunday and 1.18 million Saturday. The site reported more than 94,500 people have died, up from 87,400 Wednesday, 81,000 Tuesday, 74,000 Monday, 69,000 Sunday and 64,100 Saturday. There were more than 39,400 "serious" cases reported Thursday, and the site reported more than 355,500 people have recovered. In John Spahr's daily update from Seneca County Emergency Management Agency, Gov. Mike DeWine said the Ohio Manufacturing Alliance is working with three hospital groups to manufacture 750,000 to 1 million face shields over the next five weeks to be distributed across Ohio for healthcare workers and first responders. He reported there are about 19 manufacturing companies that have come forward in the areas of diemakers, injection molding and assembly, among other disciplines. He said the governor also recognized local "hobbyists" that are making masks and face shields using 3D printer technology. For the week ending April 4, the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services reported 226,007 initial jobless claims to the U.S. Department of Labor, which is the second straight week that more than 200,000 new claims were filed by Ohioans. The number of initial jobless claims filed in Ohio over the last three weeks stands at 696,519. To put that in perspective, 364,603 initial jobless claims were filed during the entire year in 2019. Over these last three weeks, ODJFS has distributed more than $124 million in unemployment compensation payments to more than 195,000 claimants. People are urged to file their claims online, if possible, at unemployment.ohio.gov. Employers with a critical need for employees and people who want to fill those needs are invited to visit Ohiomeansjobs.gov or coronavirus.ohio.gov to search and apply.