Athens County sees drop in daily case average following January pandemic peak

Even with 91% of Ohio University students on the Athens campus fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to Ohio U’s Jan. 25 public health update, the omicron variant has continued to disrupt a semester many hoped would represent some sort of a new normal.

However, these hopes may not be entirely unfounded. In every US state, COVID-19 cases have started to decline. As of Feb. 21, the daily average of cases has consistently trended downward in Athens County since Jan. 17, according to the New York Times. 

At an Ohio U COVID Operations media briefing held Feb. 17, Dr. Gillian Ice spoke about the decline of positive COVID-19 cases.

“Cases are dropping, but we still have reasonably high positivity rates. We'd like to see those come down even lower,” Ice said. 

Due to the decline in positive cases, Ohio U announced a change in COVID-19 protection measures.

“We have allowed students to have guests in residence halls again…we've gone back to normal seating and dining halls or we are in the process of making that happen,” Ice said. 

Along with changes in protective measures, Ice also announced a change in quarantine protocols from the Ohio Department of Health. 

According to the Ohio Department of Health, there is no longer a required quarantine after exposure with the exception of those living in congregated settings or dorms with a high positivity rate.

Although cases are declining, they remain high compared to earlier phases of the pandemic. 

Only 51% of Athens County residents have been fully vaccinated against the virus according to the New York Times, with an 11% test positivity rate. Within the past two weeks, there have been seven recorded deaths and a daily average of 25 cases per day, according to The New York Times.

Athens County saw its largest peak in cases throughout the entire pandemic this January, according to the New York Times. 

Ohio U has focused their attention on emphasizing the need for students to get their COVID-19 booster shot and upload proof of receiving a booster shot to COVID Operations’ website. 

“About 6,700 folks have reported a booster. So we would like to see the booster rates go up for sure and we are continuing to encourage those,” Ice said.