COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – COVID-19 numbers in Ohio are at points not seen since August, with case numbers and hospitalizations all trending down.

Data from the Ohio Department of Health shows hospitalizations are down nearly 80 percent from the all-time high six weeks ago.

ODH reporting 899 new cases Sunday and 851 Monday marks the first time since August that the state has recorded consecutive days with new case numbers below 1,000.

“I’m very encouraged the rates in the community and in the hospital are decreasing,” said Dr. Mark Herbert, an infectious disease specialist with Mt. Carmel Medical Group.

According to Herbert, Mt. Carmel East is no longer in a situation where it needs its COVID-19 surge unit, which the Ohio National Guard has been helping operate. Sunday marked the last day the Guard was on hand helping with the unit.

“The closure of the surge unit, along with the decreased number of cases in the hospital and in the ICU, all good signs the rates are decreasing,” he said.

The state reported a high of more than 6,700 current COVID-19 hospitalizations on Jan. 10; that number is now around 1,500, numbers, again, not seen since last August.

“The overall message for the current state of COVID-19 in the state of Ohio is very optimistic,” said Dr. Joseph Gastaldo, an infectious disease expert with OhioHealth. “Trending-wise, all markers are showing things are getting better.”

He is hopeful numbers will continue to improve as we get closer to spring.

“We are winning the football game,” Gastaldo said. “We are in the beginning of the fourth quarter in a football game. We have a really big score, but the football game is not over. We have to wait for things to get over.”

In central Ohio, hospitalization numbers peaked at more than 1,100. That number is now about 280.