Photo: CDC/Dr. Fred Murphy, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Public Health; public domain.
COVID-19 Update — November 4, 2021
- Published: November 4, 2021
• The Ohio Department of Health, or ODH, reported Monday, Nov. 1, that the Centers for Disease Control was expected this week to recommend the Pfizer COVID-19 pediatric vaccine for children 5–11 years old. The CDC’s recommendation is the last action needed before administering the vaccine to the public. The agency’s OK had not been announced as of press time. Yellow Springs Schools is anticipating the imminent approval, however, and has set a vaccination clinic for children ages 5–11 on Friday, Nov. 12, from 9–11 a.m., at Mills Lawn Elementary School.
• According to the ODH, 6.4 million Ohio residents, representing nearly 65% of eligible Ohioans, have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Of those, more than 385,000 are 12–17 years old, representing more than 43% of that age group in the state. “Vaccines offer the best protection from COVID-19,” the ODH stressed this week, noting that vaccines are widely available throughout the state. While many providers offer walk-in appointments, Ohioans also can schedule a vaccination appointment at http://www.gettheshot.coronavirus.ohio.gov.
• The addition of new cases in Ohio has continued to slow, with a gradual drop in numbers throughout October. Ohio’s seven-day average for new cases during the last full week of the month, Sunday, Oct. 24, through Saturday, Oct. 30, showed a slight reduction from 3,596 to 3,564.
• Ohio’s case numbers per 100,000 residents also have continued to go down, moving from an average 419.2 cases, as reported by the ODH on Oct. 21, to 359.1, reported Oct. 28. Greene County numbers remain lower than the state average, with 326.7 per 100,000, as reported Oct. 28, slightly fewer than the 342.7 average cases counted the week before. The ODH’s most recent reports list Greene County at 69th among Ohio’s 88 counties. Guernsey County, in east-central Ohio, remains at the top of the state’s list for the third week in a row with 962.1. The lowest average number of cases was in Hamilton County, which contains Cincinnati, with 236.6 per 100,000, which is still more than two times above the “high” incidence definition of 100 or more cases per 100,000.
• Also continuing to fall were the weekly totals of new infections in Greene County. Over the week of Sunday Oct. 24, through Saturday, Oct. 30, 287 new cases were reported, down from the previous week’s total of 336. At the same time, the seven-day moving average in Greene County saw further decline, from 45.86 on Oct. 24 to 41.29 on Oct. 30. New COVID-related hospitalizations in the county also dropped over the week of Oct. 24–30, with 11 new admissions, compared to 22 the week before. The reported number of deaths in the county for the same period was 8, compared to 15 the previous week and 12 the week before that.
• Contrary to the state and county trends, new case numbers for the 45387 ZIP code rose slightly for the second week in a row, fluctuating around an average of 11, with 10 reported Sunday, Oct. 24, and 11 on Saturday, Oct. 30.
• In Yellow Schools, the public schools maintained the same numbers as the week before, reporting one student who had tested positive for the virus and two students in quarantine for possible exposure, none related to the school setting.
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