3 deaths, 98 new COVID cases

CELINA - A 49-year-old unvaccinated man is among three new deaths and 98 new cases of COVID-19 reported in Mercer County during the past week, according to a Wednesday news release from the Mercer County Health District.

Health district administrator Jason Menchhofer on Wednesday night said the newest deaths also include an 84-year-old man and an 80-year-old man. Both were fully vaccinated, marking the third and fourth fully vaccinated individuals to die from the virus.

As of Wednesday, 291 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the county since the beginning of September - more than all the cases reported in March, April, May, June and July combined, according to health district data.

The new cases bring the county's cumulative number of cases to 4,706 and the cumulative death toll to 93. Health officials also reported six hospitalizations, a cumulative 916 probable cases, 4,433 people who have recovered and 20 probable deaths from COVID-19. Of the overall cases, 132 are active.

According to the release, Mercer County Community Hospital in Coldwater has nine people hospitalized with COVID-19, six of whom are Mercer County residents. All are unvaccinated.

Of the cumulative total of confirmed cases, 42 have been reinfections, 41 of which have occurred in unvaccinated people, health officials said.

Health officials continue to urge residents to take precautions to protect themselves and others from the virus, including wearing a mask when indoors, practicing frequent hand washing and staying home when sick.

There have been 33 confirmed and 12 probable cases of COVID-19 breakthough infections among fully vaccinated Mercer County residents, according to the release. Of those, four were hospitalized and have since recovered.

Studies show that COVID-19 vaccines are effective at keeping individuals from getting COVID-19, and getting a vaccine also will help keep people from getting seriously ill if they get COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The three available COVID-19 vaccines in the U.S. have been granted either full or Emergency Use Authorization by the Food and Drug Administration.

The health district offers the COVID-19 vaccine every Friday at the health district office on the first floor of the Central Services Building in Celina. People can call 419-586-3251 extension 1462 to ask questions or schedule an appointment.

The majority of COVID-19 hospitalizations and reinfections are in unvaccinated people, according to the release.

Menchhofer has said the highly contagious delta variant is almost certainly circulating in the community. Health officials have said it's difficult to say how many cases involve the delta variant because testing is sparse.

The county also has a high rate of community transmission, according to the release.

The county has a rate of 303 cases per 100,000 people over the past seven days, according to the release. In last week's report, the county had a rate of 361 cases per 100,000 people in the past seven days. The county's positivity rate is 17.02%, a slight improvement over last week's rate of 20.29%.

A high transmission rate is defined by the CDC as 100 or more new cases per 100,000 people in a seven-day period or a test positivity rate of 10% or higher.

As of Wednesday night, ODH reported a cumulative 1,365,800 confirmed and probable cases, 71,001 hospitalizations and 21,596 Ohio resident deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.

COVID-19 cases/deaths:
Ohio cases 1,365,800
Ohio deaths 21,596
Mercer County cases 4,706
Mercer County deaths 93
Auglaize County cases 4,233
Auglaize County deaths 65