CLEVELAND — Longterm care facilities and prisons have accounted for 52% of Ohio's COVID-19 cases since new reporting requirements were instituted on April 15, when nursing homes and assisted living facilities began reporting cases to the Ohio Department of Health.
The mandatory reporting at longterm care facilities coincided with increased testing at Ohio's prisons. High percentages of inmates tested positive for COVID-19 at Marion and Pickaway Correctional facilities.
As you can see in the graphic below, there were 16,428 cases in Ohio in the four week period ending May 6. During that same period, longterm care facilities had 4,362 COVID-19 cases, including both residents and employees. Prison communities (Marion and Pickaway Counties) had 4,183 cases during that same period. Cases outside of longterm care facilities and prisons made up 48% of cases.
Friday, Cuyahoga County pledged five million dollars to increase testing at congregate living facilities like nursing homes, jail and homeless shelters. The funding should provide an additional 30,000 tests.
In Cuyahoga County, the 278 cases in longterm care facilities starting April 15 account for roughly 10% of all cases in the county since the first case was diagnosed March 9.
But, in other counties the impact on longterm care facilities has been much greater. Lucas County has eclipsed 800 cases in longterm care facilities over the past month, or 51% of all cases in the county. Mahoning County has reported 486 cases in longterm care facilities or 46% of all cases in that county.
Longterm care facilities are where we are seeing a high percentage of deaths. There have now been 497 deaths reportedat longterm care facilities in just the past four weeks, making up 40.5% of the total deaths reported since early March.
Cuyahoga County's 43 longterm care deaths make up 31% of all deaths in the county since March. Lucas County has reported 65 deaths at longterm care facilities, Mahoning and Frankling Counties 46.
Summit and Stark Counties each have 33 deaths at longterm care facilities, making up roughly half the deaths in those counties.
