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'Things are looking brighter': Cuyahoga County leaders provide encouraging COVID-19 update as cases decline

Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish held a COVID-19 briefing on Wednesday along with county health leaders.

CLEVELAND — As COVID-19 case numbers continue to improve in Ohio, Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish held a briefing alongside county health leaders on Wednesday. 

The news was very encouraging.

"Our positive cases have gone way down. I mean, it’s really pretty astounding," Budish reported. "On December 27th, the Cuyahoga County Board of Health reported 3,070 new COVID cases. On February 12, this past Saturday, the number of new COVID cases was just 28."

According to the Ohio Department of Health, the COVID-19 case rate in Cuyahoga County is now the lowest in the state. On January 1, Cuyahoga County's case rate was the highest in Ohio. Over the past two weeks, Cuyahoga County is averaging 157 cases per 100,000 residents.

"This is really great news," Budish added. "Cuyahoga County is definitely moving in the right direction."

Budish was joined by the following Cuyahoga County medical leaders:

  • Board of Health Commissioner Terry Allan, MPH
  • Board of Health Director of Epidemiology, Surveillance & Informatics Jana Rush MPH, MA
  • Board of Health Co-Director of Prevention & Wellness Romona Brazile, BA, RN

Allan noted that the county's COVID-19 positivity rate is down to 8.7%. It was at 17% in mid-January and around 35% when the omicron variant was surging in Cuyahoga County at the start of the new year.

"All of our indicators are trending downward," Allan reported. "We've come a long way. What a difference a month makes."

On Monday, the state reported 1,312 new cases of COVID in a 24 hour period, the smallest daily increase in more than six months.

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You can watch Wednesday's briefing in the player below:

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