New information on the number of Ohioans that recovered from COVID-19. Plus, Governor DeWine instituted a new color-coded COVID-19 threat system. Scioto County is ranked at level 2, which means we have some problems.
Number Recovered
How many Ohioans have recovered from COVID-19? According to Lt. Governor Jon Husted, it’s hard to say. “Many have been asking why the number of people isn’t reported. That data isn’t reported to the Ohio Department of Health, so we don’t have an exact figure. However, we can presume what the number is based on other data.”
The state came up with their estimate using this calculation:
- Total number of cases
– number of deaths
– cases from the past 21 days
= presumed recovered.
The number of those presumed to have recovered is 38, 987.
In Scioto County, 25 of the 37 people diagnosed with COVID-19 have recovered.
Heart and Lung Damage
That means over 70% of those who caught COVID-19 recovered. That doesn’t mean those patients are out of the woods. While most who catch the virus have mild symptoms and can just stay home and recover, in some patients Cornoavirus triggers an auto-immune response that attacks the lung, liver, and other organs. There is also a high rate of blood clots that cause strokes, heart attacks, kidney failure, and other complications.
Governor Mike DeWine said 60% of Ohio’s population is ‘High-Risk’ for COVID complications. While older people and those with pre-existing autoimmune diseases are most vulnerable, the young and health are at risk.
Actor Nick Cordero is hospitalized in a Los Angeles ICU. He has been there for 90 days. The perfectly healthy man in his forties lost a leg due to COVID-19 complications. The virus severely damaged Cordero’s lungs. His wife reported that if Cordero survives, he’ll need a lung transplant.
Doctors also warn that Coronavirus appears to do lasting damage to the heart and lungs. Some studies show that up to 20% of patients have lasting heart damage. Others reported neurological problems including memory loss and nerve damage to limbs.
Health Alert System
Ohio’s COVID-19 cases continued to climb and Governor Mike DeWine is worried. He announced a new color-coded health alert system to rank the severity of COVID-19 cases in each county.
The Levels are:
- 1 Yellow – Active Exposure and Spread
- 2 Orange – Increased exposure and spread
- 3 Red – Very high exposure and spread
- 4 – Purple – Severe exposure and spread
The indicators used to determine the ranking are:
- Number of new cases based on the population of the county
- A sustained increase in cases
- Cases not coming from high-risk settings like nursing homes or jails
- Increase in ER visits for COVID symptoms
- Sustained Increase in Outpatient visits for COVID symptoms
- Increase in new COVID hospital admissions
- ICU occupancy rate goes above 80% for three days
Scioto County ranks at level 2. In the past two weeks, the number of COVID-19 cases has nearly doubled.