CELINA — Mercer County remains under a Level 3 Public Health Emergency, as the number of new cases per capita — a measure which accounts for population size — still exceeds the CDC’s definition of widespread community transmission.
The Ohio Department of Health updated its warning levels Thursday afternoon.
Allen County continues to see high incidence of community transmission, with 104.54 new cases per 100,000 residents reported in the last two weeks, but it will remain under a Level 2 (Orange) Public Health Emergency. There was a pop-up COVID-19 testing center Thursday at the Ohio State University-Lima/Rhodes State College campus.
Auglaize County, which reported 131.42 new cases per 100,000 residents in the same period, is emerging as a hotspot. The county ranks No. 8 in Ohio for new cases per capita but also remains under a Level 2 Public Health Emergency. Allen County ranked No. 13.
Hardin, Hancock, Logan, Putnam and Shelby counties all remained at Level 2 (Orange), while Van Wert County remained a Level 1 (yellow).
In Mercer County, there were 107 new COVID-19 cases reported over the last two weeks, which translates to 259.89 new cases per 100,000 people when factoring for population, the highest in Ohio.
Ninety percent of those cases were detected outside of congregate settings, such as nursing homes and jails.
Mercer County has already confirmed 209 COVID-19 cases this month, just 30 shy of its July record.
Still, the overall number of new cases in Mercer County is declining, while outpatient visits and hospital admissions for COVID-19-related symptoms have plateaued. And intensive care unit capacity in the region remains below the Ohio Department of Health’s 80% threshold.
But Mercer County will continue under a Level 3 alert until the number of new cases per 100,000 residents falls below 100 in a two-week period.
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