County sees slight increase in COVID cases

People who have not been vaccinated make up majority of hospitalized patients

By DAN ROBINSON

Times staff writer

The new wave of COVID-19 with the delta variant has caused some concerns with local health officials, but the new concerns are not what they were in 2020 at this point. 

“We are starting to see a slight increase in positively for COVID testing in our Hardin Emergency Department,” said HMH President and Chief Nursing Officer Joy Bischoff.

“OhioHealth Hardin Memorial Hospital is prepared and confident that we have the proper processes and safety measures in place to manage this most recent surge,” she said. “Being aligned with OhioHealth allows us to offer resources that support our associates, patients and the community.” 

Currently, the county is reporting about four COVID-19 cases daily, said Kelsey Ralston, public information officer for the Kenton-Hardin Health Department. While that is an increase from what it was in recent weeks when the county was down to one case per day, it is still much lower than what the reports showed last fall. 

“It’s still not the kind of case increase we were seeing last fall where we were seeing doubling every week, but it does show increased spread and we would continue to encourage people to protect themselves and others by masking in large gatherings, washing hands, staying home when feeling sick, and getting vaccinated,” said Ralston. 

The majority of the new cases at the hospital come from those who have not been vaccinated, noted Bischoff. 

“We are finding that the majority of patients that are being hospitalized are unvaccinated, especially those elevated to our intensive care units,” she said. 

While the impact of the new variant of the virus has not made a huge impact on the cases in Hardin County, Bischoff continued, there have been a significant increase in cases in surrounding counties, including central Ohio. 

The current national wave comes as Hardin County prepares for its biggest gathering of the year with the county fair, which begins Tuesday. 

“The fair has taken a very positive stance in continuing to encourage people to protect themselves and others, as well as supporting the vaccination efforts by setting up vaccination days with us and Hardin Memorial Hospital,” Ralston said. 

“They did a great job last year, and we can only hope that people take responsible steps during the fair to protect all who attend,” she said.