The number of positive COVID cases in Ohio and hospitalizations has been going down in recent days. And there are some signs that the pandemic could be evolving to an endemic, an illness like flu that is always around but not causing serious threats to the health care infrastructure. But Ohio鈥檚 top doctor says it鈥檚 too early to talk about COVID as an endemic yet.
Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff says Omicron has infected a lot of Ohioans, giving them some immunity. He says that鈥檚 a sign Ohio could be moving toward an endemic.
鈥淏ut we are on the way there. We haven鈥檛 arrived there yet. Before COVID-19 can become endemic, we need to see substantial reductions in our hospitalizations and case numbers coupled with more people vaccinated to keep the spread low,鈥� Vanderhoff says.
Right now, just under 60% of eligible Ohioans are fully vaccinated (59.92% ages 5 and up). And there are more than 4000 (4,044) COVID patients hospitalized in all of the state鈥檚 hospitals. That鈥檚 one-fifth of the total number of patients in those facilities.
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