Health & Fitness
25,000 Coronavirus Cases Confirmed In Ohio As Backlog Cleared
The Ohio Department of Health cleared a backlog of thousands of antigen tests, causing a spike in COVID-19 cases.
COLUMBUS, OH — Health officials cleared a backlog of thousands of COVID-19 antigen tests Tuesday, causing a surge in new case confirmations.
More than 25,000 new cases were confirmed on Tuesday by the Ohio Department of Health. Gov. Mike DeWine said Monday he expected a one-day surge in cases confirmed because of the data dump.
“After understanding more about antigen tests, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, changed their case definition in August allowing antigen tests to be included in case counts without additional verification,” said ODH Chief Medical Officer Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff. “ODH is now aligned with CDC’s current definition and we will begin reflecting those tests immediately in our daily reported case counts moving forward.”
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Since the start of the pandemic, more than 500,000 positive COVID-19 tests have been confirmed in Ohio.
Approximately 13,000 antigen cases were backlogged, meaning Ohio's 24-hour new case total is closer to 12,000. That's still higher than the state's rolling average of 8,500 new cases per day. On Monday, 9,273 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed. DeWine said he hoped numbers were flattening.
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In August, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention altered the case definition of antigen testing, allowing results to be reported without further verification. Ohio officials continued to manually confirm antigen test results until the most recent surge began in November.
The surge resulted in a backlog of unconfirmed cases. Health officials struggled to individually verify each antigen test, DeWine said.
Here are all of Tuesday's numbers:
- New cases: 25,721
- New deaths: 81
- New hospitalizations: 657
- New ICU admissions: 67
Will there be enough vaccine for everyone in Ohio? Who can get the vaccine first? How will I know when I can get a vaccine? Find answers to these and other questions related to Ohio's #COVID19 vaccine distribution plan here: https://t.co/iJyhUt24tT#InThisTogetherOhio pic.twitter.com/L2tNzksxWy
— Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) December 8, 2020
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