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Athens Co. Confirms 31 COVID-19 Cases For December 17, Remains Level 3

By: Allison Hunter
Posted on: Thursday, December 17, 2020

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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — Athens County has now had 2,731 total cases of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic after 31 cases were confirmed Thursday. The county is still at a Level 3 public health emergency, triggering five of the state’s seven indicators.

The Ohio Department of Health confirmed the new cases on December 17.

Analysis of ODH data indicates four cases involved people aged 0-19, four involved people aged  20-29, three involved people aged  30-39, five involved people aged 40-49, six involved people aged 50-59, three involved people aged 60-69, five involved people aged 70-79, and one case involved a person 80+

One person in their 50s and another in their 80 or older required hospitalization. ODH indicated the total number of hospitalizations in the county since the beginning of the pandemic is now up to 111.

There are 590 known active cases in the county as of Thursday. There are 2,135 recovered cases, according to the Athens City-County Health Department. There have been six 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.

Thursday at 2 p.m., the Ohio Department of Health announced 596,178 confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 statewide after 11,412 cases were reported in the last 24 hours. There have been 33,745 hospitalizations and 7,894 reported deaths since the start of the pandemic.

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.