COVID-19 was first labeled a pandemic in March 2020. It has the capabilities to cause mild to moderate illness with 15% of individuals infected reporting severe symptoms. COVID-19 can appear through respiratory symptoms and a fever, but some remain asymptomatic. Preventative measures, such as personal hygiene, staying home when sick, and vaccination, allow for limited transmission which is important to ensure others, especially those with weakened immune systems, do not get sick. Although restrictions and cases have decreased since 2020, COVID-19 continues to be monitored in the state of Ohio for significant increases of cases or outbreaks within populations.

Cases of reportable disease in the state of Ohio are reported by providers and laboratories to local health departments using a system called Ohio Disease Report System (ODRS). This allows for local health departments (LHDs) to accurately monitor and investigate any case of disease requiring follow-up, isolation/exclusion, or guidance to prevent further transmission. This also allows LHDs to collect accurate data on how many cases of certain disease they have in their county to create graphs like the one you see! Using data from previous years, public health professionals can create threshold data to get a detailed prediction of what is “normal” for their county during a specific period.

Since both the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have reduced their recommendations on isolation and exclusion, efforts to monitor COVID-19 have also scaled back. Currently, Licking County Health Department (LCHD) continues to collect data on cases to monitor local activity. LCHD continues to work with vulnerable groups, such as long-term care facilities, to navigate any outbreaks and provide guidance to prevent transmission.

Licking County Health Department (LCHD) partners with many groups to ensure we are accurately collecting data on COVID-19 within our county. Outside of reporting that comes from the state surveillance system, LCHD also engages with long term care facilities and school systems to ensure any outbreaks are reported early to mitigate transmission among the public. The public also has the opportunity to report their positive at-home test results to the health department using the following link:  Report Positive At-Home COVID-19 Test.