After several weeks of plateauing at a low following the winter’s Omicron wave, COVID-19 cases are on the rise again Lawrence County.

The county reported 35 new cases of the virus between April 22-28, according to numbers released by the Lawrence County Health Department.

This was a rise from the previous week, when 23 new cases were reported from April 15-21 and the 19 per week reported in the two weeks preceding that.

The county is ranked at 22 out the state’s 88 counties and High for community transmission level and low for community level, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

There have been 17,958 cases to date of the virus in Lawrence County.

According to the Ohio Department of Health, 43.57 percent of the population in Lawrence County is fully vaccinated. Using the CDC’s numbers, 52.5 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 continues to offer COVID-19 vaccination clinics, providing initial doses and booster shots. Vaccines are also available at most pharmacies. For more information, call 740-532-3962.