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From staff reports
Athens County had the highest rate of new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people over the last two weeks, as numbers continued a slow climb.
According to statistics from the Ohio Department of Health, there were 108 new cases of the virus reported in Athens County from April 7-20. That gave the county of 65,327 people a rate of 165.3 per 100,000, higher than the rates for the larger Delaware (301 cases among 209,177 residents) and Cuyahoga (1,654 among 1,235,072) which were in second and third with rates of 143.9 and 133.9, respectively.
Last week, Athens County ranked 15th in the state, with 44 new cases from March 31 to April 13 for a rate of 67.4.
"The uptick in cases here in Athens County is pretty directly tied to our university population," Athens City-County Health Department Administrator Jack Pepper said.
He added that it's not just among students but faculty and staff too.
That's still a far cry from the 2,316 per 100,000 rate the county posted from Jan. 13-26, after students returned from winter break and everyone had to undergo mandatory testing, regardless of whether they showed symptoms.
Pepper said OU's spring semester wraps up with finals next week. After that, he expects a "pretty significant drop in our case count."
Statewide, the average rate of new cases per 100,000 residents over two weeks rose from 56.6 a week ago to 81.5.
Monroe County was the next highest locally at 35th, with a rate of 58.6. That equates to eight cases among its 13,654 residents, up from six and a rate of 43.9 (40th) the previous week.
Washington County, population 59,911, moved to 67th with 21 new cases and a rate of 35.1. Last week, it had eight cases and a rate of 13.4.
Noble County logged four new cases for the second consecutive period for a rate of 27.7. But as other counties' numbers rose, Noble, population 14,424, dropped from 67th to 76th.
Morgan County had the lowest rate out of Ohio's 88 counties last week at 6.9, with just one case among its 14,508 residents. With two cases in the latest period, it moved to 87th, with a rate of 13.8.