Coronavirus In Avon Lake: 88 New Cases

AVON LAKE, OH — COVID-19 continues to surge in Avon Lake and around the state.

Last week, there were 88 new COVID-19 cases confirmed among Avon Lake residents. The week before there were 46 cases, and the week before that there were 23 cases.

Lorain County confirmed 944 new cases last week, up from 533 the week prior.

"We are in a critical period of this health crisis. With Thanksgiving coming next week we need to seriously assess how and with whom we will be spending the holiday," Mayor Greg Zilka said.

Last week, Mercy Health hospital executives similarly urged Lorain County residents to "rethink Thanksgiving."

"Even though hundreds of thousands of people across the country who have died from COVID-19 will not have a chance see their children graduate from college or hold their grandchildren once again, we've become numb to the numbers and other global news has replaced the urgency of this pandemic," the executives wrote in an op-ed on Patch.

Their plea was echoed when a bevy of the nation's top health care systems, including Mercy Health, the Cleveland Clinic, the Mayo Clinic and Johns Hopkins, among others, issued a public service announcement on Thursday. The hospitals urged Americans to wear masks and resist the urge to gather in large numbers on Thanksgiving.

Since the start of the pandemic, the hospitals note, more than 11.5 million Americans have tested positive for the virus, including 1 million new cases in the past week. Nearly 250,000 Americans have died because of COVID-19.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have released studies showing masks can successfully limit the spread of COVID-19. "Wearing facemasks protect in key ways: by protecting the wearer against inhalation of harmful pathogens and particulates and by preventing exposure of those around the wearer," the hospital systems said.

"The country has reached a tipping point. The power to do what is right is now in the hands of everyone everywhere," the hospitals said.