Still listed as ‘High’ transmission by CDC classification

As the two-year anniversary of the start of the COVID-19 pandemic approaches, Lawrence County remained at the top of Ohio’s 88 counties for new cases of the virus for the week of Feb. 24-March 3.

According to the Lawrence County Health Department there were 125 new cases of COVID-19 reported in the county during that week, 10 hospitalizations and one death from the virus.

While the county still led the state in new cases, there was still a significant decline in those numbers from previous weeks. From Feb. 17-24, the county reported 193 new cases of COVID-19, 309 cases from Feb. 10-17 and 601 cases from Jan. 27-Feb. 3.

While new cases are declining, the county is still listed as “high” for transmission level, using the CDC’s classification system, with a positivity rate of 47.4 percent according to the Ohio Department of Health.

The health department said the total number of new cases for February was 1,469, with 61 hospitalizations and 15 deaths.

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

According to the Ohio Department of Health, 34.89 percent of the population in Lawrence County is fully vaccinated. Using the CDC’s numbers, 51.55 percent is fully vaccinated.

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.