By: Daniel Cooley
At first glance, it appears Williams County is in trouble, as the county moved up to 33rd to 26th, in the number of CCOVID cases per 100,000 people.
But the news isn’t all bad, because the number of infected people dropped from 1,338 cases over the previous two weeks, to 722, per 100,000 people over the past two weeks.
The actual number of new cases over the past two weeks is 265. In turn, on the positive, the number of cases this past week was 105, down from the previous week’s 160 count.
The reason that Williams County jumped up to 26th this week while the numbers went down, was because Ohio’s 88 county total dropped significantly, from 950 cases per 100,000 during the previous two weeks to 481 cases per 100,000 people, over the last two weeks.
“These numbers in Williams County are much better and there has been a lot of improvement,” said Victoria Smith, of the Williams County Health Department.
“But we just peaked (in numbers) earlier this winter, so we still have a long way to go. We would like to get our numbers down to less than 100 per 100,000 people. Most of Ohio is still in the red (keeping the state at the high incidence rate);”
There has been some progress overall in Ohio, with seven counties, Holmes, Huron, Cuyahoga, Lake, Geauga, Summit and Medina, dropping down to the orange, or substantial, level . The other 81 counties are still in the red, or high incidence rate.
Fulton County, which dropped down from 55th to 62nd out of the 88 Ohio counties over the past two weeks, had numbers drop of 1,078 per 100,000 people over the previous two weeks, to 470 per 100,000 people, this time around.
The actual number of new cases over the past two weeks was 198, with a decrease this week of 74 cases (compared to 124 new cases the previous week).
Fulton County’s lower numbers per every 100,000 people than Williams, could be linked to the quantity of vaccines.
In Fulton County, 52% have had their first dose and 49% have completed the vaccine series. Those numbers are lower in Williams County, with 47% getting the first dose and 43% completing the vaccine series.
The rate of infections between men and women is close to the same rate in both counties, with more women getting infected than men.
In Fulton County, the overall number of cases stands at 5,537 women being infected, compared to 4,587 men. In Williams County, though actual numbers were not given, there were approximately 4,500 women infected compared to roughly 3,500 men.
In overall rates, since March of 2020, there have been 475 hospitalizations and 16 deaths in Fulton County and 367 hospitalizations in Williams County and 152 deaths.
To get a booster or vaccine in Fulton County, the following places are open on Mondays, from 10 a..m-4 p.m., at the following locations, Rite Aids in Archbold, Swanton or Wauseon; Kroger in Swanton and Walmart in Wauseon.
Appointments are preferred, but walk-ins are also available. Vaccines are available by appointments, at other times.
In Williams County, the Health Departments in Montpelier at 310 Lincoln (48-420) and Bryan at 1397 East High Street (636-8754), have Moderna and Pfizer vaccines and boosters available, but Johnson & Johnson vaccines are available on a limited basis.
Dan can be reached at publisher@thevillagereporter.com