Cuyahoga County's COVID-19 Rates Surge Above State Average

The anticipated surge in COVID-19 cases has arrived in Cuyahoga County, health officials said in a news briefing on Friday.

Cuyahoga County’s COVID-19 rate is at 237 cases per 100,000 residents, which is well above the state’s average of 183 cases per 100,000, said Jana Rush, the board of health’s director of epidemiology.

“Definitely we are seeing our cases increase,” Rush said.

The cause of the surge is people starting to gather and see people over the holidays and Spring Break, as well as a variant strain of the virus—B117—that is more contagious.

“They’ve all combined to slow our progress back toward normalcy,”  said County Health Commissioner Terry Allan.

Allan and County Executive Armond Budish noted that the rate of vaccinations locally continues to increase, particularly among people of color.

Predominantly African American neighborhoods on Cleveland’s east side have seen a large increase in vaccinations.

“While minorities are still way underserved, we’ve seen progress there,” Budish said.

In the last three weeks, the vaccination rate is up 71 percent in the zip code that covers the Central neighborhood, up 77 percent in the zip code that includes Kinsman, up 80 percent in the Collinswood neighborhood and up 92 percent in the Fairfax neighborhood, according to data provided by Budish.

There are still problems, however, with access as some people who would like to get the vaccine can’t find an appointment, Budish said.

Budish also announced the United Way’s 211 lines will extend hours for residents to call to get help registering for vaccine appointments.

The vaccine line will be available on the weekends from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with extended hours on weekdays, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Over 15,000 people have already been registered for the vaccine, routed to available providers, or provided transportation to vaccine sites, Budish said.

Free transportation is available for people to go to any vaccine site in the county.