TOLEDO, Ohio — Lucas County shattered its one-day mark for COVID cases on Friday with 237 new cases.
"There are outbreaks all over the place. We have them from family gatherings, weddings, showers, nursing homes," Shannon Lands, a spokesman for the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department said. "People are not staying home when they are sick. We are urging people to stay home and quarantine."
She added that some people are having tests done, but then are not waiting for results before going back out into the community.
The county has 25 contact tracers and an epidemiologist who are working day and night, Lands said, to keep up with the rising numbers.
Lucas County remained red this week on the state's Public Health Advisory System. The state currently has 56 red counties and every county is listed as being a high-incidence area, which means cases of more than 100 per 100,000 residents.
Lucas County has remained at Level Three "Red" since Oct. 15. One month ago, the cases per capita were 66. On Thursday, it was listed as 240. There have been more than 1,200 cases in the last two weeks. There have now been more than 9,000 confirmed cases and 384 deaths.
Visits to the doctor and emergency rooms have risen sharply in the last two weeks, and Lands said hospitalizations are climbing, though local hospitals are still in good shape.
STATEWIDE SPIKE
The state notched a record-high number of COVID-19 cases on Friday as well, exceeding 5,000 daily cases for the first time since the pandemic started.
The Health Department on Friday reported 5,008 probable and confirmed cases, another daily record high. Ohio has reported more than 240,000 probable and confirmed cases to date, including 5,494 deaths.
Republican Gov. Mike DeWine said Thursday without providing details that he planned to announce additional measures soon to slow the spread of the virus. Ohio already has a statewide mask order, a limit— with exceptions — on gatherings over 10 people, and a ban on alcohol sales in bars and restaurants after 10 p.m.
“We’re going to do what we can do, wherever we can make an impact,” he said, calling the spread of the virus the number one threat to lives and to the economy.