New cases of COVID-19 are dropping in Lawrence County from where they were two weeks ago, but the county is still the highest in the state for new cases of the virus.

In figures released on Friday by the Lawrence County Health Department, there were 309 new cases of the virus reported from Feb. 10-17, seven hospitalizations and four deaths.

In the last set of data released by the county two weeks prior, there were 601 new cases of the virus between Jan. 27 and Feb. 3.

For February, the county has seen 1,031 positive cases of the virus, up to Feb. 17, 35 hospitalizations and 11 deaths.

For comparison, in January, the county reported 4,265 new cases of the virus, 104 hospitalizations and 21 deaths.

Deaths were six women and five men, ranging in age from 47-86.

Despite the drop in new cases, the county is still ranked “High” for transmission level by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

Last week, several school districts in the county dropped the mask mandates for students and staff, which were originally said to remain in place while the county was listed as “High” by CDC.

Statewide, Ohio reported 899 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday and 30 hospitalizations, the lowest daily figure since early August, prior to the Delta variant of the virus.

According to the Ohio Department of Health, 34.67 percent of the population in Lawrence County is fully vaccinated. Using the CDC’s numbers, 51.2 percent is fully vaccinated. Both numbers were slight increases of less than one percent from two weeks prior.

The difference in the numbers is due to those who may have been vaccinated out of state. Those providers are not required to report their numbers to the state health department, but they are reported to the CDC by a resident’s zip code.

The county health department is continuing to offer free vaccinations and booster shots. For more information on those, visit the department’s Facebook page or call 740-532-3962.