Good news and bad news for our area. Fourteen Scioto County residents have taken on COVD-19 and won. According to the latest numbers from the Scioto County Health Department and the Portsmouth City Health Department, so far 15 people have tested positive. Thankfully, all but one has recovered. On the downside, the job news for Ohio is terrifying.
Local health departments report that they’ve conducted 1,640 tests. You’ll recall that the county health department expressed concern about the limited amount of testing available. Let’s hit the high points with the latest stats.
Statewide Numbers
As Ohio begins to open back up, here’s where the numbers stand statewide:
- Suspected cases – 31, 911
- Confirmed cases- 29,777
- Hospitalizations – 5,476
- ICU admissions – 1,438
- Suspected deaths – 1,969
- Confirmed deaths 1,769
The 21-day trend shows that cases, deaths, hospitalizations, and ICU admissions are all dropping.
Local Numbers
Numbers from surrounding areas:
- Pike County – 6
- Adams County – 8
- Lawrence County – 28
- Jackson County – 11
Greenup County KY – 14 (An 83-year-old man is hospitalized.)
Despite a high number of cases in Ohio’s prison system and nursing homes, locally we’re doing comparatively well. There have been no positive test results at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility. Fourteen inmates are currently in quarantine. Two cases were reported at Best Care nursing home but the virus did not spread.
The Scary Stuff
Perhaps the most frightening numbers to see locally are those connected to Ohio’s Unemployment rate.
Ohio’s unemployment rate jumped to 5.8% in March as the COVID-19 shutdown began. By April it was 16.8%. Last year in April, the unemployment rate was 4% Ohio lost 823,700 jobs in that time period between March and April of 2020.
Nearly one million Ohioans were unemployed. The U.S. unemployment rate for April was 14.7%, up from 4.4% in March, and up from 3.6% in April 2019.
Comparing April 2019 to April 2020 the job losses are staggering
- Employment in goods-producing industries decreased 141,400.
- Manufacturing lost 101,000 jobs with losses in durable goods (-85,200) and nondurable goods (-15,800).
- Construction decreased 39,400 jobs and mining and logging lost 1,000 jobs.
- Employment in the private service-providing sector decreased 687,000
- Leisure and hospitality -289,100
- Trade, transportation, and utilities -120,000
- Professional and business services -109,600
- Educational and health services -99,000
- Other services -48,300
- Financial activities -15,800
- Information -5,200
- Government employment decreased 48,300 as losses in local (-37,000) and state (-11,700) government exceeded gains in federal government (+400).