Data has been a major part of the pandemic, as rising and falling numbers of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths have led to restrictions being imposed, as well as lifted, in Ohio.
Early on, we began collecting state data and publishing it on our website in a series of charts and graphs that made an avalanche of numbers easy to digest. These daily stories have been some of the most viewed on our site over the last 15 months.
RELATED: Context > speed when it comes to coronavirus statistics
With vaccinations rising and cases declining, the state of Ohio announced it is suspending its health orders on June 2. We are taking this occasion to halt the daily publishing of our coronavirus numbers story. The contextualization of this data is only as important as the impact it has, and with life starting to resemble normal again, we’re going to pull back and focus our resources elsewhere.
If you would still like to view the numbers, they will be updated daily here, sans story.
If you are interested in viewing state data directly, you are welcome to do so here.
You can find links to these and other resources on our coronavirus page, which many readers visit daily.
OK. Here's what this doesn't mean. This does not mean we think the pandemic is over. Our web team will continue to cover COVID-19 and all the ways it affects our lives. If the numbers rise again -- and we certainly hope they don't -- we'll get back to contextualizing them.
As always, if you have any questions or suggestions for how we can improve your News 5 web experience, email us at webstaff@wews.com.
Stay safe out there.
RELATED: DeWine announces end of health orders
Joe Donatelli is the digital director at News 5 Cleveland. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter. Email: joe.donatelli@wews.com.
