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Ohio's rate of new COVID-19 cases decreased this week, according to the latest statistics from the Ohio Department of Health, and most local counties followed suit.
Athens County had the second highest rate of new cases per 100,000 people among Ohio's 88 counties from Sept. 1-14, but it was lower than the rate from Aug. 25 to Sept. 7.
In the most recent period, Athens County reported 529 new cases among its 65,327 residents, which doesn't take into account all the students at Ohio University, though their positive cases still count. That rate of 809.8 per 100,000 was below the 950.6 the county posted in the earlier period, when there were 621 new cases and Athens was third in the state.
Meigs County, south of Athens, had the highest rate in the state this week with 881.8 per 100,000, based on 202 cases among its 22,907 residents. The state average went from 361.8 per 100,000 to 320.5 in the most recent numbers.
Morgan County was the only local county to buck that trend, recording 62 new cases for a rate of 427.4 per 100,000, 16th in the state. But that was only three more cases among its 14,508 residents than the previous two-week stretch, when it posted a rate of 406.7 and ranked 36th.
Despite having 11 fewer cases (225 versus 236), Washington County, population 59,911, moved up from 38th in the state with 393.9 per 100,000 to 35th with 375.6.
Monroe County, population 13,654, had 40 new cases for a rate of 293 per 100,000, 66th in the state. Previously, it had 43 new cases and its rate of 314.9 was 63rd.
Noble County remained near the bottom, with 30 new cases among its 14,424 residents, for the third-lowest rate in the state, 208 per 100,000. It had been the fourth lowest with a rate of 242.7 on 35 new cases from Aug. 25 to Sept. 7.
Four of the five counties shifted on the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's COVID Community Levels metric, based on new cases and hospitalization data for the previous seven days. The data is updated on Thursday afternoons.
Washington, Athens and Morgan counties moved to high, under which the CDC recommends people wear masks in indoor, public spaces. They had been at medium, when people who are at increased risk of severe illness are advised to consult their health care provider about what precautions to take.
Monroe County moved from high to medium, while Noble County remained at medium.