Wednesday, August 26th, 2020

13th Mercer COVID death reported

Only four new cases reported in the area

By Leslie Gartrell
CELINA - A 61-year-old St. Henry man reportedly is the 13th person to die from COVID-19 in Mercer County.
The newest death was accompanied by two new confirmed cases, raising the county's total to 754, according to a county health district news release on Tuesday.
In Auglaize County, two new confirmed cases brought that county's total to 365.
Mercer County Health District staff expressed their condolences to the family and friends of the deceased in the release.
Public information officer Kristy Fryman said the man was not a patient at a long-term care facility and had been hospitalized prior to his death.
The incidence rate in the county, or the number of new cases in a given time frame, has decreased recently, according to the release. Gov. Mike DeWine on Tuesday announced that Mercer County has an incidence rate of 189.4 new cases per 100,000 residents - a significant decrease from the 245.3 new cases per 100,000 reported on Aug. 19.
While district health officials said the decreasing rate is a good sign, work still needs to be done to stop the spread of the virus in the county.
"It's encouraging to see our COVID-19 incident rate drop; however, we can't let our guard down," Fryman wrote in an email to the newspaper on Tuesday. "We need the citizens of Mercer County to continue to follow the rules & recommendations to help stop the spread of the virus. It will take everyone's efforts to help us get where we need to be."
Mercer County is still considered to be a high-incidence county on the Ohio Public Health Advisory System since more than 100 cases per 100,000 residents have been reported within the last two weeks.
The county remains at Level 3 on the system. A county designated at Level 3 or Level 4 on the system cannot drop below Level 3 until it no longer has a high-incidence rate of the spread of COVID-19, according to the release.
Since the beginning of the month, 245 cases have been reported in the county, which is the largest number of cases reported in a month since the beginning of the pandemic.
Mercer County residents can continue doing their part to stop the spread of the virus by wearing a face covering, washing their hands, using hand sanitizer, covering the nose and mouth with a tissue or sleeve when coughing or sneezing, staying home when sick and cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched surfaces, according to the release.
Avoiding close contact with others and staying at least 6 feet away from others is equally important.
Health officials in the release also reported 30 probable cases, 664 people who have recovered, 43 pending tests, 2,731 negative test results, five hospitalizations, 13 deaths and one probable death from COVID-19. Of the 754 confirmed cases, 75 are active, according to the release.
Cases have been reported in all areas of the county since the beginning of the pandemic. Since March, Celina has had 339 cases; Coldwater, 119; Fort Recovery, 97; St. Henry, 93; Maria Stein, 48; Rockford, 23; Mendon, 14; Chickasaw, 11; Burkettsville, four; and Montezuma, three, according to the district's online COVID-19 dashboard at https://arcg.is/1mTqa5.
Auglaize County Health Department officials reported the two newest cases are women, ages 41 and 22, according to a news release. Both are self-isolating at home.
Department officials also reported 37 probable cases, 302 people who have recovered, 35 total hospitalizations and eight deaths, according to the release. Of the 402 confirmed and probable cases, 92 are active.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, cases have been reported throughout Auglaize County, including St. Marys with 169 cases; Wapakoneta, 101; Minster, 43; New Bremen, 41; Cridersville, 24; Waynesfield, 11; New Knoxville, four; Botkins, three, Lakeview, two; St. Johns, two; New Hampshire, one; and Uniopolis, one.
As of Tuesday evening, the Ohio Department of Health reported 116,495 confirmed and probable cases in the state, 12,956 hospitalizations and 3,996 confirmed and probable deaths from COVID-19.

COVID-19 cases/deaths:
There were 2 new cases in Mercer County. Auglaize County also had 2.
Ohio cases  116,495
Ohio deaths  3,996
Mercer County cases  754
Mercer County deaths  13
Auglaize County cases  365
Auglaize County deaths  8
Additional online story on this date
Indians give coach first varsity victory
ST. MARYS - A different face patrolled the sideline for the Fort Recovery volleyball team Tuesday night.
The winning outcome was very similar to past seasons. [More]
Subscriber and paid stories on this date
CELINA - City councilors are getting closer to enacting a new sidewalk program, with at least four members supporting the city's shouldering the entire cost of the repair or replacement of existing sidewalks.
CELINA - U.S. Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Troy, spoke with members of the business community on Tuesday about the events of the past year and tried to give them an insight into what could be coming.
MENDON - Village council members approved bidding $86,500 for a used bucket truck.
Street commissioner Randy Severns in June said the village's buc
Mercer County's unemployment rate continued to improve in July, as the county improved its standing from eighth-lowest to third-lowest unemployment rate in the state.
Area Roundup
Compiled by Gary R. Rasberry
The 2020 cross country season got underway for area teams as St. Henry hosted the Mercer County Meet at the Wally Post Athletic Complex.
CELINA - The last 10 months have been a whirlwind for Celina football.
After finishing 3-7 a season ago, the Bulldogs - as did every other football team in Ohio - had to prepare to play not knowing if they would actually get the chance due to the pandemic.
COLDWATER - Veteran Coldwater football coach Chip Otten is taking a playoff-style approach to the 2020 football season that was in doubt for some time and is still a concern.
FORT RECOVERY - Fort Recovery has players who have proved capable of getting it done at a high level.
The Indians are now out to prove they can win at a high level.
MARION LOCAL - Marion Local had question marks across the board last year, and answered by winning the Division VII state championship.
Coach Tim Goodwin and company have fewer question marks entering the 2020 season.
MINSTER - Last season, the Minster football team enjoyed a year in which they finished 10-2 overall and at 7-1 in the Midwest Athletic Conference, they enjoyed a share of their first league championship in 30 years.
NEW BREMEN - The bar was set high last year.
But the 2020 New Bremen Cardinals want to raise it even higher.
New Bremen played eventual state cha
ROCKFORD - Joel Henkle was optimistic that the Parkway football team could begin to turn things around in 2019.
The result was a 4-6 season in his first season as head coach of his alma mater, a vast improvement after the team won just six games the previous five seasons combined.
ST. HENRY - After finishing the 2019 season with a 1-9 record, St. Henry football coach Brad Luthman is focused on returning a winning attitude to the Redskins program.
ST. MARYS - Following a four-year stint in which the St. Marys Roughriders grabbed at least a share of the Western Buckeye League title three times,
CELINA - Celina will assume the "Bourne Identity" as Angela Bourne takes over as head volleyball coach this season, replacing Amy Sutter, who went 94-79 and 48-15 in the Western Buckeye League with two league titles in seven seasons as coach.
COLDWATER - For Nikki Etzler to maintain the winning that the Coldwater volleyball program has achieved in the past few seasons - with 88 victories over the past four seasons and a state runner-up finish in 2017 - some reloading will be required.
FORT RECOVERY - The Fort Recovery Indians have continued taking steps forward, in the Midwest Athletic Conference and the state rankings. 
Maybe t
MARIA STEIN - Anthony Chappel paid homage to his favorite coach, the New England Patriots' Bill Belichick, when he wore a short-sleeved hoodie during this summer's Mark Ruschau Classic in New Bremen.
MINSTER - Head coach Cami Garman embarks on her 11th season at the helm of the Minster Wildcats hoping to improve on her squad's 15-9 finish from 201
NEW BREMEN - As the fate of the volleyball season hung in the balance this summer, New Bremen coach Diana Kramer repeatedly told her team one thing: control what you can control.
ROCKFORD - Parkway volleyball coach Jordan Henkle will have a youthful team this season as the Panther try to build from last season's 9-15 campaign.
Parkway has four sophomores and four juniors on the roster, with three of the four returning starters being either 10th- or 11th-graders.
ST. HENRY - St. Henry has been one of Ohio's top-ranked teams on a yearly basis.
Bench boss Tricia Rosenbeck's team was led on the court by a talented - and now graduated - bunch in 2019. And the coach knows this year's team will have to work a little extra to be successful.
ST. MARYS - Caley Yoder's first season as head volleyball coach will have her coaching a St. Marys team that brings a lot of experience back from a 9-15 squad that went 4-5 in the Western Buckeye League.