Huron County Public Health's final COVID-19 weekly update

NORWALK — Huron County Public Health (HCPH) has been issuing the Huron County Weekly COVID-19 Report since May 2020. Over the past few years, this report has captured a lot of different COVID-19-related data in a variety of formats. After three years of weekly reporting, HCPH has decided that this report will be the final COVID-19 weekly report issued in this format. This decision has been made for a few reasons: • The federal government ended the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) yesterday, May 11, 2023. • With the continuously increasing availability and use of at-home test kits, case data that comprises the majority of HCPH's COVID-19 Weekly Report is becoming a less and less-reliable indicator of the true impact of COVID-19 in our community. • It is time that we shift our strategy from an emergency response to COVID-19, to a sustainable response to COVID-19, similar to what we do for other illnesses, as HCPH recognizes that COVID- 19 will continue to remain a part of our world long-term. Although the Huron County COVID-19 Weekly Report is ending: • It is very important for our residents to understand that COVID-19 is not going away. HCPH still recognizes the impact that COVID-19 has and will continue to have on our community. We encourage residents to continue to implement everyday preventative actions that protect them from COVID-19 and other illnesses such as handwashing, following CDC recommendations for what to do if you have been exposed, staying home if you are sick, etc. (Read more about how to protect yourself and others at: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting- sick/prevention.html). • HCPH will continue to monitor the impact of COVID-19 on Huron County and will continue to evaluate what data and information we can provide to residents to help them make informed decisions regarding COVID-19. • In the meantime, COVID-19 data for Huron County, including wastewater monitoring for the Villages of Monroeville, New London, and Wakeman and the City of Norwalk will continue to be available on the Ohio Department of Health's Dashboards at https://coronavirus.ohio.gov/dashboards. • While federal/state supplies last, HCPH will continue to offer free at-home COVID-19 test kits and COVID-19 vaccines (by appointment). Report Summary This report covers Huron County's COVID-19 update for the reporting period of May 5 to 11. This reporting period has recorded a case count of 5 cases, a decrease from 9 cases for the previous week's reporting period. Three Zip Codes in Huron County reported cases this week, with the highest infection rate in the Wakeman Zip Code (44889). Important Notes About This Report COVID-19 case counts included in this report are estimates for the reporting period based on reports generated from the Ohio Department of Health (ODH)'s Ohio Disease Reporting System (ODRS). These data may be impacted by several factors, including but not limited to: • Lack of reporting individual cases (for example, if a self-administered at-home test kit results positive but individual case information is not reported to HCPH or recorded in the ODRS, this case will not be counted by ODH or included in this report); and • Reporting delays with the electronic reporting of cases, especially during surge periods. For continued updates, HCPH reminds residents to continue to use reputable sources for information about COVID-19, including www.huroncohealth.com, www.coronavirus.ohio.gov and www.cdc.gov. Statewide COVID-19 case data can be found on the Ohio Department of Health's COVID-19 Dashboard at: https://coronavirus.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/covid-19/dashboards. COVID-19 Wastewater Monitoring Network Wastewater monitoring for COVID-19 is a real-time, leading indicator that provides trend information regarding what is occurring in a community. Wastewater monitoring data, along with the number of positive individuals that have been tested at medical facilities and hospitalization information, are data sources that can be used to help inform local communities about the level of COVID-19 in their communities. There are currently four active COVID-19 wastewater monitoring sites in Huron County including Norwalk, Monroeville, Wakeman, and New London. Information about the COVID-19 Wastewater Monitoring Program can be found at https://coronavirus.ohio.gov/dashboards/other-resources/wastewater.