First area virus case was a year ago

CELINA - On the anniversary of the area's first known COVID-19 case, hundreds of people will be at Mercer County Fairgrounds today to be vaccinated against a virus that has claimed the lives of 146 Mercer and Auglaize county residents in 365 days.

The past year has seen a whirlwind of public health orders, event cancellations, virtual learning, hand washing, Zoom calls and social distancing. One year after the area's first confirmed case, about 7,361 cases have been confirmed in Mercer and Auglaize counties, according to local health agencies.

The World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus to be a public health emergency of international concern on Jan. 30, 2020. In February, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the risk to the general public was considered to be low.

Gov. Mike DeWine declared a state of emergency on March 9, the same day the state's first confirmed cases were reported.

On March 11, the WHO declared a pandemic - a disease so widespread it touched every corner of the world. Less than a month after the CDC labeled COVID-19 to be low-risk to the general public, about 1,000 people in the country had tested positive.

By March 22, DeWine had enacted a stay-at-home order when cases spiked to more than 350. The Ohio Department of Health has since reported more than 1 million cumulative cases to date.

Public health was thrust into the spotlight overnight. Working in a department mostly known for flu shots and birth certificates, Mercer County Health District administrator Jason Menchhofer said he and his staff were used to working behind the scenes.

Now, health district staff and volunteers vaccinate between 600 to 800 people each week at their drive-thru COVID-19 mass vaccination clinics.

"Our whole frame of reference changed," Menchhofer said Tuesday evening. "It's good to be where we are compared to where we've been."

Health district officials on Tuesday reported 10 new cases of the virus since their last update on March 18, raising the county's cumulative total to 3,923 confirmed cases. It's a tremendous improvement compared with the county's peak in November, when health officials at one point reported nearly 70 new cases in a single day.

To date, district officials have reported a cumulative 3,923 confirmed cases, 736 probable cases, 3,790 people who have recovered, 84 deaths and 19 probable deaths from COVID-19. Of the overall cases, only 14 are active.

Menchhofer and Auglaize County Health Department commissioner Oliver Fisher both spoke about the changes officials made to deal with the pandemic. Public health agencies had largely focused on education before the pandemic hit, Fisher said.

However, the implementation of public health orders and mandates meant the departments had to become enforcers rather than educators, all while trying to combat misinformation and keep the public informed.

"It was a big change in public health responsibility," Fisher said Tuesday. "And changing health orders and being put into enforcement rather than education affected how health departments were viewed by the public."

Fisher and Menchhofer said their staff struggled not only with the increased workload but also with the increased public attention. Fisher said a crisis intervention specialist provided staff with ways to practice self care. Both said the pandemic has definitely affected their staff's mental and physical health.

"It's really amazing what my staff has gone through," Fisher said. "I think we're all kind of shell shocked."

Tasks that staff had done rarely, such as contact tracing, soon took up much of their work time, Fisher said. Menchhofer said in the past contact tracing would be necessary maybe four or five times in a year and usually would be tied to a foodborne illness outbreak. The pandemic turned it into an everyday task, leading both departments to outsource part of their contact tracing to ODH officials.

Although the year has been trying, it's also provided learning and support.

Menchhofer said health officials have seen tremendous community support over the past few months, especially when it comes to their drive-thru vaccination clinics.

It takes 35-40 people to run the clinics, and with a staff of 19, Menchhofer said volunteers are critical. Not only have officials seen a steady stream of volunteers, they've also had a steady stream of support from local businesses and restaurants.

"We wouldn't be able to do a lot of what we do without the support," Menchhofer said. "We literally can't do it ourselves."

While the pandemic persists, conditions have significantly improved, the two health officials said. The availability of vaccines, eased restrictions and the promise of all statewide health orders getting rescinded once the state reaches 50 cases per 100,000 people for two weeks have been bright spots amid an otherwise dark year.

Today, Mercer County Health District officials will perform their 16th drive-thru vaccination clinic at the fairgrounds. Hundreds of people will arrive to get vaccinated against a virus that's killed more than 540,500 Americans since the pandemic began.

Fisher said he's cautiously optimistic.

"Looking back, we're definitely in a different place right now, and we have a vaccine," Fisher said. "It's definitely a much better trajectory than where we were a year ago."

Auglaize County Health Department officials on Tuesday reported only three new confirmed cases of COVID-19, raising the county's cumulative case count to 3,348. Officials also reported a cumulative 1,133 probable cases, 176 hospitalizations, 62 deaths and 4,438 people who are presumed to have recovered.

As of Tuesday night, ODH reported a cumulative 1,002,822 confirmed and probable cases, 52,349 hospitalizations and 18,382 Ohio resident deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.