News

Athens Co. Confirms 41 COVID-19 Cases For November 18 And 19, Remains At Level 2

By: Aaron Payne
Posted on: Thursday, November 19, 2020

< < Back to woub

ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — Athens County has now had 1,706 total cases of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic after 41 cases were confirmed over the last 48 hours.

The Ohio Department of Health confirmed the new cases on November 19.

Full data from the agency has been delayed as the state decided to double-check positive COVID-19 cases from antigen tests before adding them to the state’s total count.

Athens County triggered three of the state’s seven indicators this week: new cases per capita, new cases increase and non-congregate cases.

To reach Level 3, a county must trigger at least four indicators.

Statewide, Gov. Mike DeWine announced during his Thursday press briefing that this is the first week where there are no Level 1 counties and Franklin County became the first county to reach Level 4.

Analysis of ODH data indicates 15 of the cases from Wednesday and Thursday in Athens County involved people aged 20-29, seven involved people aged 70-79, five involved people aged 50-59, five involved people aged 60-69, four involved people aged 0-19, two involved people aged 40-49, two involved people aged 80+ and one involved a person aged 30-39.

Four additional cases, two from the 20-29 age range and two from the 70-79 age range, required hospitalization over the past two days, bringing the county’s total to 62 people who have been listed as hospitalized since the beginning of the pandemic.

There are 318 known active cases in the county as of Thursday. There are 1,384 recovered cases, according to the Athens City-County Health Department. There have been four deaths related to COVID-19 in the county.

Anyone experiencing respiratory symptoms is asked to call their primary care physician, urgent care, or emergency department before arriving for care to let them know that they believe they are experiencing symptoms related to COVID-19 virus.

On Thursday at 2 p.m., the Ohio Department of Health announced 326,615 confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 statewide after another single-day high 7,787 cases were reported in the last 24 hours. There have been 23.560 hospitalizations and 5,890 reported deaths.

ODH makes the following recommendations to protect yourself from illness:

• Wash hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds; dry hands with a clean towel or air dry hands.
• Use alcohol-based hand sanitizer when soap and water are unavailable.
• Cover your mouth with a tissue or sleeve when sneezing or coughing. Avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands.
• Stay home when you are sick.
• Avoid contact with people who are sick.

Ohio’s coronavirus call center is open to answer questions from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. The hotline number is 1-833-4-ASK-ODH or 1-833-427-5634. More information is available at coronavirus.ohio.gov.