By: Daniel Cooley
When looking at county rankings, there doesn’t appear to be a big drop for either Williams or Fulton counties. In a case where the lower the rankings the better, Williams dropped just four spots down to 22nd out of 88 counties, while Fulton Country actually moved up six spots to 43rd this week.
However, the numbers in both counties dropped enough that Williams and Fulton counties are now in the medium level, moving out of the high risk level.
Williams actually had a big drop over the past two weeks in numbers per 100,000 people, with decreasing rates of 286 from two weeks ago to 149.9 over the past two weeks. The actual number of new COVID cases over the past two weeks was 55.
Overall, the entire state of Ohio dropped its per 100,000 rates to 104.7.In addition, there are now 31 counties that are below the 100 number per 100,000 people, up from 11 counites over the previous two weeks.
A drop in both Ohio and Williams Country rates gave Victoria Smith, the Director of Health Education and Preparedness for Williams County, reason to smile a little bit.
“That’s definitely some good news this week,” Smith said. “(Our county) is getting close (to those coveted) 100 per 100,000 rates.
Plus, Williams County is now in the medium range, which means that you no longer have to wear a mask while indoors. (But) Getting fully vaccinated is still highly recommended.”
Hopefully, that will continue to bring things back to a more normal level. In 2021, Williams County experienced more deaths than births, which hasn’t occurred in countless years.
Meanwhile, the numbers of per 100,000 people in Fulton County dropped from 169 the previous two weeks to 118.7 over the past two weeks. The actual number of new COVID cases over the past two weeks was 50.
Dan can be reached at publisher@thevillagereporter.com