Coronavirus: Antibody study shows prevalence low in Ohio adults, many still susceptible

Of those tested, 0.9% had active COVID-19 and 1.5% had evidence of antibodies when tested over 20 days in July, Turner said.

She noted that other research indicates that evidence of antibodies only goes back three months and not to the beginning of the pandemic.

Though the results showed that the prevalence was relatively low, Turner said that it means more remain susceptible.

She added that an exact number of how many Ohioans have or had coronavirus is not clear. Turner said that “some hundreds of thousands” of Ohioans have had the virus and that millions are still susceptible.

Montgomery, Butler and Mercer counties are among 11 counties at level 3, the most the state has had at one time since September.

There were four counties that moved up to level 3, including Richland County, which is also on a watch list for counties near level 4.

Butler County is seeing cases at Miami University remain steady, as well as cases reported in K-12 schools. The county is meeting three of the alert system’s seven indicators.

Montgomery County has been at level 3 for a month and is also meeting three indicators, including new cases per capita, non-congregate cases and outpatient hospital visits.

There have been 155,314 total cases of coronavirus and 4,817 deaths attributed to the virus in Ohio, according to the Ohio Department of Health.

More than 1,300 cases were reported Thursday, the highest number of daily cases reported in the last 21 days. The daily average is 1,011 cases.

Hospitalizations increased by 90 for a total of 15,606. There were nine ICU admissions reported, bringing the total to 3,297.

Starting Monday, nursing homes and assisted living centers will be permitted to resume indoor visits. Two visitors will be allowed per resident per visit. Visits must be scheduled ahead of time and are limited to 30 minutes.