Ohio is changing the way it reports COVID-19 data as the state heads into an endemic

The Ohio Department of Health is changing the way it reports data on its COVID-19 dashboard. ODH Director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff says the changes are in order since the state appears to be going into an endemic, meaning the virus is regularly found in the population.

Daily reporting of case counts, vaccinations, and hospitalizations will cease this Sunday and replaced with weekly reporting beginning Thursday, March 17. Vanderhoff says changes are in store for Ohio’s K-12 schools too.

“Schools will no longer be required to report positive cases of COVID-19 to their local health department unless the school has actually tested the student and determined a positive result,” Vanderhoff said.

The pandemic is shifting into an endemic, Vanderhoff says, so it makes sense to relax the standards and data reporting. He says seven million Ohioans have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccines, which are widely available throughout the state to anyonoe who want them. He urges Ohioans who haven't a shot to get them because they provide valuable protection against the virus.

Ohio's hospitals are not feeling the stress they did just two months ago. And the case numbers are down. Just 868 cases were reported Thursday, compared to two months ago when case levels were close to 20,000 per day.

Vanderhoff says 61 of Ohio's 88 counties are currently considered low risk by the CDC, 17 are medium risk and 10 are high risk. Vanderhoff says there is one county Northern Ohio that is considered high risk - Ottawa - and nine counties in Southern Ohio.

Vanderhoff says the state's COVID situation is becoming more manageable, and the recent strains of COVID-19 are not as dangerous for vaccinated people. Plus, he says there is a supply of effective treatments available to Ohioans who catch the coronavirus.

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