The Williams County Health Department has developed community talking points in an effort to provide useful information as we work together to prevent COVID-19 spread in our community.
- COVID-19 cases continue to increase in Williams County.
This week, there has been an increase in positive COVID-19 cases among Williams County residents. In the past 7 days (since October 28th), there have been 120 new cases, 4 hospitalizations, and 0 deaths.
Williams County has remained orange (level 2) on the Ohio Public Health Advisory System for the past 6 weeks. On October 29th, Williams County triggered 2 of the 7 indicators (New cases per capita & Non-congregate cases) and high incidence.
- There are several sites that offer COVID-19 tests in Williams County. If Williams County residents would like to be tested for COVID-19, they may contact their healthcare provider to request a test. Please call ahead to check availability and to schedule an appointment.
A map with local testing sites is also shown on the coronavirus.ohio.gov website: https://coronavirus.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/covid-19/testing-ch-centers/
Attached is a document that discusses what to do while you are waiting for your COVID-19 test results.
- WCHD is often asked the following question, “Are COVID-19 cases increasing only because testing capacity has increased?”
No, while increased testing capabilities can lead the identification of COVID-19 cases, positivity rates and increased hospitalization rates show that testing isn’t the only cause of increased COVID-19 case trends. Community spread has increased.
If increased testing was the only reason for the increase in case counts, positivity rates and hospitalizations would decrease or remain the same. Instead, hospitalizations due to COVID-19 continue to rise in Ohio as shown on the graphs below. Positivity rates across Ohio are also increasing as cases increase, indicating that the rise in cases is due to increased community transmission, according to John Hopkins University.
