Ohio Confirms Nearly 5,000 New COVID-19 Cases, Breaking Record

COLUMBUS, OH — Ohio has again smashed its previous record for most COVID-19 cases confirmed in a single day.

Health officials have confirmed nearly 5,000 new coronavirus cases among Ohioans in the past 24 hours, easily blowing past a mark set earlier this week. More than 235,000 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed among Ohioans since the start of the pandemic.

Gov. Mike DeWine noted that Ohio was averaging 1,000 new cases per day approximately one month ago. Now, every county in Ohio is now classified as having "high-incidence" rates of coronavirus locally.

Hospitalizations were also on the rise on Thursday, with 214 Ohioans entering hospitals for COVID-19 treatment in the past 24 hours. There are now 2,075 people in hospitals being treated for the virus. That's a record for Ohio.

There are 541 Ohioans in intensive care units, another record-breaking number. The previous high was 533 in April.

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While COVID-19 testing has expanded around Ohio, so has the state's positivity rate. Cases are increasing much faster than the state's testing, though, DeWine said.

"Since September 24 [Ohio's] total number of tests has increased about 44 percent. Compare that with our case data, which increased 280 percent during the same period," DeWine noted Thursday.

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

• New cases: 4,961
• New deaths: 33
• New hospitalizations: 214
• New ICU admissions: 23

More reading:

• Coronavirus Deaths Rise Drastically In Several States
• Here's Which Ohioans Will Get The Coronavirus Vaccine First
• Why State Mask Stockpiling Orders Are Hurting Nursing Homes, Small Providers