COLUMBUS – State health officials are sounding a warning about the rise in COVID-19 cases in Ohio because of the new delta variant.
“After a long period of decline, the COVID-19 cases are steadily rising again now in Ohio, Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, medical director of the Ohio Department of Health, said Wednesday.
The number of cases per 100,000 residents has more than doubled in the last two weeks, from 17.6 on July 11 to 37.8 on Tuesday, Vanderhoff said.
COVID-19 cases have nearly tripled in the U.S and Vanderhoff says the number of Ohio being admitted to hospitals for COVID-19 treatment has increased as well.
Leading physicians are encouraging adults to get vaccinated against the coronavirus to protect children under 12 who cannot get the shots yet.
“We take better care of our children than we do ourselves so this is a way to take care of the children in your life,” Dr. Patty Manning-Courtney, chief of pediatrics at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, said during a news conference with Vanderhoff.
“You have to vaccinate the adults to keep the kids safe,” said Dr. Amy Edwards, of University Hospital and Rainbow Children’s Hospital in Cleveland.
During a CNN town hall in Cincinnati Wednesday night, President Joe Biden expressed optimism that the younger children will be approved for vaccination in the coming months.
Biden expressed pointed frustration over the slowing COVID-19 vaccination rate in the U.S., pleading that it’s “gigantically important” for Americans to step up and get inoculated against the virus as it surges once again.
Biden says the public health crisis has turned largely into a plight of the unvaccinated as the spread of the delta variant has led to the surge in infections around the country.
Unemployment claims increase
Initial claims for unemployment benefits in Ohio rebounded by more than 26% from the previous week’s pandemic-era low to 12,619 during the week that ended on July 17, according to data reported to the U.S. Department of Labor by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services.
The 423,449 first-time and continuing traditional unemployment claims filed during the week of July 7-11 was 6.5% higher than the previous week.
The unemployment rate in Ohio rose for the second straight month, from 5.0% in May to 5.2% in June as the participation in the labor force also increased, from 5.9% to 60.2%.
The number of workers seeking unemployment benefits nationwide rose last week from the lowest point of the pandemic, even as the job market appears to be rebounding on the strength of a reopened economy.
Jobless claims increased to 419,000 from 368,000 the previous week. The weekly number of first-time applications for benefits, which generally tracks layoffs, has fallen steadily since topping 900,000 in early January.
Americans are shopping, traveling and eating out more as the pandemic has waned, boosting the economy and forcing businesses to scramble for more workers.
Companies have posted the highest number of available jobs in the two decades that the data has been tracked.