Coronavirus: Ohio Illness Count Up To 15,963, 728 Deaths

OHIO — The illness count for new coronavirus across Ohio grew by 376 on Sunday from the previous day, bringing the total to 15,963, and 17 more people died from the respiratory illness over the past 24 hours, health officials confirmed.

To date, 728 people in Ohio have succumbed to the virus, according to the latest figures from the Ohio Department of Health. In its continually updated dashboard, the health department provides statistical breakdowns on the growing illness. As of Sunday:

Coronavirus in Ohio

• Total cases: 15,963
• Hospitalizations: 3,178
• Total deaths: 728
• Number of ICU Admissions: 952
• Age Range: <1-106
• Median Age: 51
• Cases per gender: 58 mals, 42 female

In a county breakdown, health officials noted that Marion County — home to the Marion Correctional Institute — has the highest concentration of illness with 2,178 cases, the lion's share of which emerged from the correctional facility.

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Other counties' illness counts per the most updated figures are:

• Franklin: 1,942 cases.
• Cuyahoga: 1,902.
• Pickaway: 1,658.
• Lucas: 1,104.
• Hamilton: 1,005.
• Mahoning: 737.
• Summit: 485.
• Lorain: 377.
• Stark: 310.
• Trumbull: 293.
• Montgomery: 260.
• Butler: 225.

Cuyahoga County leads the state both in terms of deaths and hospitalizations, with 91 fatalities and 514 residents from that county hospitalized for treatment of COVID-19 virus infection.

On Saturday, Gov. Mike DeWine announced a key development related to the battle against coronavirus centered on the newly formed "Testing Strike Team." State officials have reached an agreement with reagent maker Thermo Fisher that will "substantially expand" COVID-19 testing capacity across the state, the governor said.

"This is an exciting, new partnership, and we look forward to working with the Thermo Fisher team and its 1,500 employees working in Ohio," DeWine said in a prepared statement.

Added Marc N. Casper, chairman, president and CEO of Thermo Fisher Scientific: “Gov. DeWine has worked tirelessly to address the critical need to increase diagnostic testing across his state, and our teams have worked together to develop a plan to meet that goal," he said. “Through his leadership and determination, labs across the state will have access to reagents and instruments needed to accelerate testing and control the spread of the virus. We are committed to helping the Governor in this effort to protect Ohio citizens and help save lives.”

In a related development, DeWine detailed a partnership through the Ohio Manufacturing Alliance involving the manufacture of 1 million testing swabs to aument testing efforts produced by Cleveland-based ROE Dental Laboratory.

The company typically produces dental restorations — crowns, dentures, dental surgical guides and the like — and has now secured specifications to manufacture swabs from Formlabs, a 3-D printing company in Toledo, the governor explained.

To that end, DeWine said ROE Dental Laboratory has invested in more than 36 additional 3-D printers — nearly doubling its fleet — and will bring nearly 100 employees back to work to produce swabs around the clock while practicing safe social distancing.

"We are very appreciative to ROE Dental for providing these much-needed supplies for Ohioans. Because of their efforts and other efforts underway, Ohio will be producing a million swabs in the coming weeks," DeWine said. "Public-private partnerships like this represent how, here in Ohio, we are all in this together. We believe that these efforts will not only increase our capacity to test, but they will also provide us with a stable supply chain."

The expanded testing will "dramatically increase" the state's ability to diagnose illness in priority areas, including nursing homes, hot spots, congregate living settings, food and grocery stores, and essential manufacturing facilities, the governor said.

The governor added the increased testing capacity also will allow for enhanced contact exposure tracing throughout the state: "Voluntary contact exposure tracing is one of the strongest weapons we have to help keep our families, our friends, and ourselves healthy," DeWine said. "For several weeks, we have been recruiting community health workers to conduct this vital voluntary tracing."

DeWine added that, as part of Ohio's offense strategy, the state has started working with Massachusetts-based Partners in Health which will bring needed resources to Ohio to help increase the ability to trace contact exposure to the virus.

On another front, DeWine announced on Saturday the state will cover the costs to keep more than 200 youth who are aging out of foster care in the foster care system until the COVID-19 pandemic ends.

"For many of these young people, their future looks uncertain because of COVID-19, whether their plan was to start a career or pursue higher education," the governor said in a prepared statement. "This program will provide these youth with a safety net during these unprecedented times and will ensure that no child leaves foster care during this pandemic without a safe place to call home."

This offering also is available for young people enrolled in the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services' Bridges program, Ohio's foster care to age 21 program, to help them maintain their housing, jobs, and education, the governor noted.

To see updated data related to coronavirus, visit coronavirus.ohio.gov. View this weekend's update by the governor on the Ohio Channel's YouTube page. For more information on Ohio's response to COVID-19, visit coronavirus.ohio.gov or call 1-833-4-ASK-ODH.