Although the health district is expecting an increase in cases, Patterson said their case count is the lowest it’s been in several months.
“We had 39 confirmed cases last week. That’s the lowest in at least eight months for us here in Clark County and that’s 19 down from last week, so let’s hope that that holds,” he said.
Patterson is reminding community members that the CDC still recommends people who are not fully vaccinated to continue to wear a mask and social distance indoors.
“We know that that’s probably less likely to happen than we would all want, so we need to understand moving forward that there will be some increase risk and there will probably be some bumps in the road. Hopefully not any spikes, but there will be some bumps where we’ll see case counts going up,” Patterson said.
Cases may go up due to Memorial Day parties and people not being outside as much with the cooler weather, Patterson said, but with school not being in full session next week and beyond, that could help with cases.
The health district is seeing more vaccines being given, not only because those age 12 and up continue to get vaccinated, including their parents, but also because of the Vax-a-Million.
“Those 12-15 were added a couple weeks ago... that has allowed parents to come in, and not only are the kids 12 to 15 getting vaccinated, but some of their parents are saying look if you get it, I’ll get it.... that’s been excellent news for us,” Patterson said. “In Clark County, it’s (the Vax-a-Million) had a positive effect on our vaccinations and we’re doing better than the last two weeks than we were doing the three weeks prior to that.”
About 1% of the county is being vaccinated each week, which Patterson said is consistent as they have had about a 1% increase each week.
“We still have a lot of work to do, and the CCCHD is still holding over 30 clinics a week around our community to make access very available, so if people want this, they’re able to get it,” he said.
“We still need to move forward with a little bit of caution because this isn’t over but we’re on the right track. People are doing the right things, and the vaccinations of fully vaccinated being over 42%, that is four out of 10 people are not out there to pass it... the more people who get vaccinated, the better,” he added.
Clark County had 14,191 cases and 303 deaths of the coronavirus as of Friday afternoon, according to the Ohio Department of Health.
As of Friday, 54,944 vaccination shots have been given in Clark County, according to ODH. Nearly 41% of the county’s total population has received at least one shot. Over 36% has been fully vaccinated.
Facts & Figures
14,191: Number of coronavirus cases as of Friday in Clark County
303: Number of coronavirus deaths as of Friday in Clark County
54,944: Number of vaccination shots given in Clark County
36: Percentage of Clark County residents who have been fully vaccinated
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