The number of coronavirus cases in the county are continuing to decline but remain higher than what is
preferred.
Wood County Health Commissioner Ben Robison gave the health board an update on COVID-19 at its
end-of-year meeting Thursday.
Cases declined to 609 cases per 100,000 people on Thursday, down from 715 per 100,000 last week, he said.
The population of Wood County is 130,817.
The Centers for Disease Control defines a high incident rate of anything more than 100 cases per 100,000,
Robison said.
Wood County remains at a red level as it continues to meet two indicators and will remain red until the
county drops below the high incidence threshold of 100 cases per 100,000.
Dropping by almost 200 cases per 100,000 in two weeks “is great news,” Robison said, adding those numbers
show the guidelines of wearing masks, social distancing and washing hands are working.
Board member DJ Mears said after looking at the county’s COVID-19 dashboard, he wanted to thank the
public for keeping the numbers down.
“We need to praise the people who followed our guidelines,” he said. “Our numbers would not be that low
if it wasn’t for that effort.”
Robison agreed.
“On one hand we’re saying thank you, but on the other hand we’re saying we’re not where we need to be
yet,” he said.
The numbers are “still quite high,” Robison continued, and remain six times higher than the CDC
definition of high incidence.
Vaccine continues to arrive. Last week, 600 doses were delivered.
“We have already worked through those doses and gotten them out to the community,” he said.
This week’s allotment was 200 doses. As of Thursday, all but 20 doses had been claimed.
The Ohio Department of Health determines whether Pfizer or Moderna will be delivered.
“We feel that we are capable of managing both,” Robison said.
He continues to ask for more than what is being sent, and he expects that trend to continue for a long
time.
“Vaccine is limited. There is no ability to get what is not there,” Robison said.
The goal is to prepare for the transition of using thousands of doses a week.
He expects the county to soon move into phase 1B, which is for those with certain medical conditions,
adults over the age of 65, and school personnel. Leaving out those with a medical condition, there are
at least 35,000 people in the county who fall into that phase. That number could grow to as many as
40,000.
Around one in four residents are 65 or older, so Robison cautioned they may be in 1B for a while.
He said one strategy to reach seniors is doing an agreement with the Wood County Committee on Aging to
connect a vaccinator with Meals on Wheels delivery.
The department is not creating a waiting list.
Robison said there has not been the uptake of vaccinations as he had hoped.
Of the 300 EMS who qualified in 1A, around 200 have been vaccinated.
He also has heard of people initially declining the vaccine who are now saying yes.
“I want to see a high uptake across all our populations,” Robison said.
He expects the county will overlap its doses.
“We’ll have a little bit of time where it’s all 1A, and then it will be 1A and 1B,” he said.
As of Dec. 15, Wood County was the only county in the state that was 100% caught up on contact tracing
and had six other health departments accepts offers of help, Robison said.
“A lot of the credit is due to the team that kept (the numbers) close,” he said.
The board renewed a number of independent contract tracers to assist with COVID-19 response. Contracts
extended to June 30 include team leads Mary Dennis, Elizabeth McGrady, Jennifer Sanders and Ontha
Oberley, each not to exceed $31,200; team supervisor Allison Batey for an amount not to exceed $36,400;
and guidance team member Teresa Hass and communication team members Matthew Thompson and Elizabeth
Peery, each not to exceed $26,000.
The board also extended contracts until Jan. 31 for eight team members and until June 30 for 13 team
members.
Robison explained pay was based on rate of support and the numbers of weeks that support was expected.
While the department is entering the new year with the same number of contact tracers to prepare for the
return of students, Robison said he expects to see the number of hires to start dropping at the end of
January.
The contracts allow the department to give 30 days’ notice and he foresees the numbers to continue to
drop as spring approaches.
Robison said that $2,000 has been raised as part of the holiday campaign. A video submission of how the
holidays were celebrated safely can be submitted before Jan. 6.
