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Athens Co. Confirms 12 New COVID-19 Cases For March 18, Remains Level 3

By: Aaron Payne
Posted on: Thursday, March 18, 2021

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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — Athens County has now had 4,740 total cases of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic after 12 were reported Thursday. The county also remained at a Level 3 on the Public Health Advisory System.

The Ohio Department of Health confirmed the new cases on March 18, 2021.

Analysis of ODH data indicates seven involved people aged 20-29, two involved people aged 50-59, one involved a person aged 0-19, one involved a person aged 40-49 and one involved a person aged 80+.

An additional case involving a person aged 80 or older required hospitalization. According to the data, 169 people in Athens County have been hospitalized due to complications related to this coronavirus since the start of the pandemic.

There are 115 known active cases in the county as of Thursday and 4,625 recovered cases, according to the Athens City-County Health Department.

The department also announced it has now administered 5,044 total first COVID-19 vaccine doses and 4,086 total second COVID-19 vaccine doses through its clinic at Ohio University Heritage Hall as of 2 p.m. A total of 20.05% of the county has started the vaccination process, according to ODH.

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.

Athens County again remained at a Level 3 Public Health Emergency, according to this week’s Public Health Advisory map.

The county met two of the seven state indicators: new cases per capita and non-congregate cases. But it did not drop below the high incidence threshold of over 100 cases per 100,000 over a two-week period, keeping it at the Level 3 designation.

Some nearby counties were downgraded, including Jackson County dropping to Level 2 and Vinton County dropping to Level 1.

Thursday at 2 p.m., the Ohio Department of Health announced 995,785 confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19 statewide after 2,104 cases were reported in the last 24 hours. There have been 51,993 hospitalizations 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.