Coronavirus Update: 11K Ohio Deaths, Curfew Reduced, & More

COVID-19 cases — In Columbus, 348 cases of COVID-19 were reported on Wednesday, Jan. 27. As of Thursday, Jan. 28, 73,541 total cases and 531 deaths from COVID-19 have been reported in Columbus and Worthington.

In Franklin County at large, 548 cases were reported on Wednesday.

Countywide, 110,305 total cases and 741 deaths from COVID-19 have been reported by Columbus Public Health and Franklin County Public Health.

In Ohio, 5,432 cases and 75 deaths were reported on Thursday, Jan. 28.

Statewide, 883,716 total cases and 11,006 deaths have been confirmed or are probable, as reported by the Ohio Department of Health. 764,480 Ohioans are presumed recovered.

According to the Ohio Vaccination Dashboard, 716,017 Ohioans (6.13% of the total population) have been administered at least one dose of the vaccine. 78,914 Franklin County residents (5.99% of the county population) have received at least one valid dose.

See a list of COVID-19 vaccine providers here.

More Updates

A plan will be announced on Friday for making the vaccination of K-12 staff more simple, said Governor Mike DeWine on Thursday. The state hopes to maximize the capacity of local vaccination partners in order to get most of the state’s K-12 staff vaccinated in the shortest amount of time.

On Monday, Feb. 1, Ohioans 70 and older will be eligible to receive vaccinations. As far as how vaccinations will be divided among Ohio’s older population and K-12 staff, DeWine said, “We hope to have about 100,000 vaccines” for elder populations every week, with 55,000 vaccines allocated for school staff.

Curfew Reduced, Now Contingent on Hospital Utilization — Governor DeWine announced on Thursday the push of the state’s curfew by an hour, changing the start time of the curfew to 11 p.m.

A possible change to the curfew was first announced as part of a recommendation from the Ohio Department of Health to make the statewide curfew contingent on COVID-19 related hospitalizations statewide.

Give that hospitalizations dropped below 3,500 for seven consecutive days as of Wednesday, the curfew was amended to 11 p.m. to 5 a.m.

The curfew will last at least two weeks, until February 11. At that point, the governor has said if hospitalizations drop below 3,000 for seven consecutive days, Ohio’s curfew would be amended to 12 a.m. to 5 a.m.

If hospitalizations drop below 2,500 for seven consecutive days, the Ohio Department of Health would recommend lifting the curfew, said DeWine during a press conference on Tuesday, Jan. 26. That being said, if hospitalizations rise, the curfew could be reinstated.

Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, Chief Medical Officer of the Ohio Department of Health, added that at above 2,500 hospitalizations, facilities struggle to maintain treatment of other illnesses, and transfers happen at 3,500 hospitalizations.

Affordable Senior Housing Facilities to Receive Vaccines Directly — Ohio will be delivering vaccines directly into affordable senior housing locations starting the week of February 8. The Ohio Department of Health will be working with local partners to offer assistance, in order to ease the burden off seniors who are having trouble accessing the vaccine.

Program Providing Financial Relief for Residents Recovering from COVID-19 Extended — Last week, it was announced that the City of Columbus and the Columbus Urban League would extend the Right to Recover program, which supports families who lose income due to COVID-19 diagnoses.

The program provides replacement funds to eligible households if they commit to isolation in their homes for 14 days to lessen the spread of the virus. An initial phase of the program assisted 473 residents with relief totaling $498,100.

The Columbus Urban League estimates that the additional funding from the city will serve 280 additional families between now and the end of February.

Residents eligible for the latest round of funding should go to cul.org to start an application.

For more information on COVID-19 in Ohio, visit coronavirus.ohio.gov or call 1-833-4-ASK-ODH.