Ohio Crosses 17,000 COVID-19 Deaths

COLUMBUS, OH — Ohio crossed 17,000 COVID-19 deaths on Wednesday, the state health department announced.

The first COVID-19 death in Ohio occurred in March 2020, when an attorney from Lucas County was killed by the virus. Since then, Ohio has gone through lockdowns, protests, mass hospitalizations and now vaccine rollout.

While 77 Ohioans died due to COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, many of the state's key coronavirus metrics trended down on Wednesday. New cases, hospitalizations and intensive care admissions were down versus their rolling average.

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

• New cases: 1,842.
• New deaths: 77.
• New hospitalizations: 137.
• New ICU admissions: 10.

At least 897,425 Ohioans have contracted COVID-19 and recovered, the Ohio Department of Health said.

More than 12.8 percent of Ohioans have received at least the first part of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to the state health department. More than 6.3 percent of Ohioans have received both COVID-19 vaccine shots.

As of Tuesday afternoon, 1.5 million Ohioans had received at least the first shot and 742,857 Ohioans have completed the vaccination process.