Weekly COVID-19 cases increase, Jan. 7

OHA’s COVID-19 weekly report released Wednesday, showed sharp increases in daily cases and positive tests. OHA reported 7,913 new daily cases during the week of Monday, Dec. 28 through Sunday, Jan. 3, a 17% increase over the previous week. That followed three weeks of declining cases. There were 358 persons hospitalized for COVID-19, a 6% increase from the previous week. There were 73 reported COVID-19 reported deaths, down from 86 last week. The percentage of positive COVID-19 tests increased to 7.5%. There were 123,821 tests for COVID-19 for the week of Dec. 27 through Jan. 2. People aged 20 to 49 have accounted for 54% of COVID-19 cases, while people 70 and older have accounted for 77% of deaths associated with the virus. The weekly report features a new format and includes additional information on new cases and data spanning the entire pandemic. Today’s COVID-19 outbreak report shows 4,853 active COVID-19 outbreaks in care facilities, living communities and long-term care facilities with 323 deaths.