The county has also hit its lowest number of new confirmed cases since last year, Patterson said.
“We had three new confirmed cases (this week). The lowest we’ve had since like May of 2020,” he said.
Patterson said he thinks the low number of cases is tied to the county not yet seeing the delta variant.
“It’s been that long since we had that few of cases and I think that’s indicative of one thing we have to point out. We have yet to find the delta variant... In Ohio, it’s only about 1% of our cases and so our low case count is indicative of the fact that we don’t have a lot of delta in Clark County,” he said.
The health district administered 2,100 vaccines in June, and 384 since July 1.
“Vaccines work,” Patterson said. “We’ve continued to do vaccinations. People are coming to get vaccinated. We continue to reach out. And we’re reaching out to athletic directors in the schools to get the athletes on board.”
Patterson said last year, they had to quarantine students who were on championship teams due to them getting exposed by the other team. He said they don’t want to have to “disrupt these athletes” this year. If a student between the age of 12-17 gets the vaccine next Monday, they would not be eligible from quarantine exemption until at least Aug. 16, which includes the three weeks between vaccines and the two weeks after the second dose to be fully immunized.
Patterson also mentioned during his weekly coronavirus update the guidance that the CDC released regarding masking in school.
The CDC’s recommendation is that masks should be worn in doors by all individuals age two and older who are not fully vaccinated, that the schools maintain at least three feet between children, and that the schools should continue making sure that they have screening, testing, ventilation, hand washing and respiratory etiquette, according to Patterson.
Patterson said he is not sure what the outcome will be regarding masks in school since the CDC just released its recommendation, but will keep the community updated as he learns more.
“We’re going to have to wait and see if anything is propagated by the state on that or whether it just remains a recommendation,” he said. “We don’t exactly know what the state is going to do with that guidance.”
Clark County had 14,271 cases and 306 deaths of the coronavirus as of Friday afternoon, according to the Ohio Department of Health.
As of Friday, 58,210 vaccination shots had been given in Clark County, according to ODH. Just over 43% of the county’s total population has received at least one shot. Just over 41% has been fully vaccinated.
Facts & Figures
14,271: Number of coronavirus cases as of Friday in Clark County
306: Number of coronavirus deaths as of Friday in Clark County
58,210: Number of vaccination shots given in Clark County
41: Percentage of Clark County residents who have been fully vaccinated
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