New Coronavirus Surge Continues In Ohio

COLUMBUS, OH — Ohio's surge of new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continued Wednesday.

In the past 24 hours, health officials have confirmed 1,424 new cases of COVID-19 among Ohioans. Over the past three weeks, the state has added an average of 1,057 new cases per day. This is the second most cases confirmed in one day over the past three weeks.

Hospitalizations related to COVID-19 also continued to climb Wednesday, as 119 Ohioans entered medical treatment facilities because of the virus. Ohio was seeing 73 COVID-19 hospitalizations per day until this recent uptick.

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Gov. Mike DeWine said Tuesday that Ohio's hospitals still have adequate capacity to treat incoming COVID-19 patients, but there is concern about this latest surge in cases. As opposed to previous upticks in hospitalizations, rural Ohioans are now filling up hospital beds and driving a surge in new cases.

Ohio is also approaching another grim milestone related to this pandemic. Since early March, 4,970 Ohioans have died because of COVID-19. It is likely that before the end of the week, Ohio will see a 5,000th death related to the virus.

Here are all of Wednesday's COVID-19 numbers in Ohio:

• New cases: 1,424
• New deaths: 23
• New hospitalizations: 119
• New ICU admissions: 17