Weekly COVID-19 cases fall below 1,000 for first time since March 2020: Coronavirus update for Thursday, May 9

CLEVELAND, Ohio – The number of new COVID-19 cases in Ohio has fallen below the 1,000 mark for the first time since the early days of the pandemic in March 2020.

New cases dropped from 1,241 last week to 936 this week, marking the 12th consecutive week of falling case numbers, the state reported Thursday.

The last time the reported cases were under 1,000 for a week was in late March 2020, soon after the first cases of the coronavirus were reported in Ohio. By later that year, there were more than 50,000 cases a week.

As recently as early January, the weekly case numbers were over 15,000, at 15,046.

At least 1,349,241 Ohioans have received the updated one-dose COVID-19 vaccine, an increase of 2,419 people from the prior week, the state reported. This represents 11.5% of the state’s population.

The total COVID-19 case count since early 2020 in Ohio has reached 3,746,211.

· Previously: May 2 Ohio COVID-19 update

There were 51 Ohioans newly hospitalized in the last week, raising the total since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020 to 151,443. Two people were admitted into the ICU, bringing the total since 2020 to 15,805.

The state health department reported an additional nine deaths from COVID-19, raising the total to 43,947. Death reporting sometimes lags by weeks.

May 9 recap

* Total reported cases: 3,746,211, up 936.

* Total individuals with updated vaccine: 1,349,241, up 2,419.

* Total reported deaths: 43,947, up 9.

* Total reported hospitalizations: 151,443, up 51.

* Total reported ICU admissions: 15,805, up 2.

May 2 recap

Total reported cases: 3,745,275, up 1,241.

Total individuals with updated vaccine: 1,346,822, up 2,985.

Total reported deaths: 43,938, up 12.

Total reported hospitalizations: 151,392, up 61.

Total reported ICU admissions: 15,803, up 1.

Julie Washington covers healthcare for cleveland.com. Read previous stories at this link.