The COVID-19 threat point for 8 counties in the region was updated to the point, prompting a recommendation to wear masks in enclosed public places, regardless of vaccination status from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Four southwestern Ohio counties in the Greater Cincinnati domain (Butler, Clermont, Hamilton, Warren) were upgraded to the upper levels of the COVID-19 network Thursday night after Hamilton County moved to the mid-level last week.
Two of northern Kentucky’s 3 most populous counties, Boone and Kenton, have also been marked in red, the highest COVID-19 network point, while Grant and Gallatin counties are also at high risk.
In addition: BA. 5 accounts for nearly 80% of new COVID-19 cases. Here’s what you want to know about subvariety
More: The new BA. 5 variant is now nearly half, if any, of new COVID-19 cases in Ohio
An update to trigger those CDC recommendations:
The CDC determines COVID-19 network grades through the number of hospital beds used, hospital admissions, and the total number of new COVID-19 cases according to the population in an area.
Hospitalizations increased in the past three weeks according to data from the Health Collaborative, the umbrella organization for the region’s 40 hospitals. clinical methods for collaboration.
“Six of the 8 counties in Southwest Ohio Region 6 are at this top point, which means that at this point, the masks are indoors,” Mattingly said. “So, from the perspective of public protection messages, we need to make sure that other people are aware of it, that we’re at a point of transmission and at a point of hospitalization that is so scary that masks are a vital prevention inside. “
Mattingly said the main variant is the subvariant omicron BA. 5, which is highly contagious but not as severe as some of the previous variants of COVID-19.
While hospitalizations have increased, the number of COVID-19 patients in the intensive care unit has remained largely unchanged. Although last week, the region experienced an increase from 22 to 30 patients in intensive care.
Mattingly said not all hospitalized patients are hospitalized with COVID-19, adding that there are “fortuitous cases” where a patient is hospitalized for some other illness and has become inflamed with COVID during their hospital stay.
“Some of those patients will want a COVID remedy during their hospital stay,” he added.