COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Omicron has replaced delta as America’s dominant COVID-19 variant, and new cases are reaching record levels in Ohio and nationwide.
The Buckeye State continues to break case records as this highly contagious strain soars. Last week the state saw its most cases ever in a week — 121,813 — including a record one-day count of 20,598 on Dec. 31.
Omicron accounts for more than 95% of new U.S. cases, according to Tuesday data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which reflects the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day. Genetic sequencing by the Ohio Department of Health is a couple of weeks behind, but state health leaders expect the data to soon show omicron as Ohio’s dominant strain.
ODH often references the rate of onset cases per population over the past two weeks as it keeps track of the virus’ spread. Ohio’s rate of onset cases per 1,000 residents in the past two weeks is 17.51 as of Tuesday, Jan. 4.
That’s close to triple the 6.64 per 1,000 when NBC4 ran the numbers about a month ago.
Leading Ohio in that metric are the following 10 counties, which include Franklin but are mostly located in the northern part of the state.
10. Stark County: 18.84 cases per 1,000
- Population (2019): 370,606
- New cases in past two weeks: 6,982
- Total cases: 65,952
- Total hospitalizations: 3,503
- Total deaths: 1,326
9. Mahoning County: 19.10 cases per 1,000
- Population (2019): 228,683
- New cases in past two weeks: 4,368
- Total cases: 43,285
- Total hospitalizations: 1,815
- Total deaths: 876
8. Franklin County: 20.78 cases per 1,000
- Population (2019): 1,316,756
- New cases in past two weeks: 27,368
- Total cases: 219,288
- Total hospitalizations: 4,984
- Total deaths: 1,966
7. Medina County: 21.41 cases per 1,000
- Population (2019): 179,746
- New cases in past two weeks: 3,849
- Total cases: 33,394
- Total hospitalizations: 1,131
- Total deaths: 401
6. Portage County: 22.92 cases per 1,000
- Population (2019): 162,466
- New cases in past two weeks: 3,724
- Total cases: 28,332
- Total hospitalizations: 1,503
- Total deaths: 335
5. Lorain County: 25.06 cases per 1,000
- Population (2019): 309,833
- New cases in past two weeks: 7,764
- Total cases: 56,483
- Total hospitalizations: 3,055
- Total deaths: 735
4. Lake County: 25.35 cases per 1,000
- Population (2019): 230,149
- New cases in past two weeks: 5,834
- Total cases: 42,971
- Total hospitalizations: 1,223
- Total deaths: 557
3. Summit County: 25.69 cases per 1,000
- Population (2019): 541,013
- New cases in past two weeks: 13,898
- Total cases: 95,663
- Total hospitalizations: 7,178
- Total deaths: 1,316
2. Erie County: 26.77 cases per 1,000
- Population (2019): 74,266
- New cases in past two weeks: 1,988
- Total cases: 15,810
- Total hospitalizations: 1,158
- Total deaths: 219
1. Cuyahoga County: 28.55 cases per 1,000
- Population (2019): 1,235,072
- New cases in past two weeks: 35,263
- Total cases: 237,937
- Total hospitalizations: 11,000
- Total deaths: 2,864
As for the remaining counties in NBC4’s coverage area, they rank as follows (of 88 counties):
- Delaware County: 16.06 cases per 1,000 in the past two weeks (17th)
- Fairfield County: 15.16 (19th)
- Crawford County: 15.11 (21st)
- Union County: 14.32 (22nd)
- Licking County: 14.12 (24th)
- Marion County: 14.03 (25th)
- Pickaway County: 13.91 (27th)
- Morrow County: 13.67 (30th)
- Fayette County: 12.62 (36th)
- Hocking County: 12.49 (38th)
- Ross County: 12.22 (40th)
- Madison County: 11.47 (45th)
- Knox County: 11.14 (48th)
- Pike County: 10.73 (50th)
- Perry County: 9.22 (62nd)
- Hardin County: 8.00 (75th)
- Morgan County: 7.79 (77th)
- Athens County: 7.23 (80th)
- Coshocton County: 6.34 (84th)