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Athens County saw an uptick in new COVID-19 cases recently, according to the latest statistics from the Ohio Department of Health, while other area counties declined slightly.
The statewide average for new COVID cases per 100,000 residents continued to drop, going to 84.7 for the period from March 23 to April 5 after tallying 98.4 from March 16-29.
Athens County, population 65,327, recorded 95 new cases in the most recent period. Its rate of 145.4 per 100,000 ranked ninth among the state's 88 counties for the period. Earlier, the county had 81 new cases for a rate of 124 per 100,000, which was 18th.
With 13 cases among its 14,508 residents, Morgan County's rate of 89.6 ranked 37th. It previously had 16 new cases and a rate of 110.3 (26th).
Washington County, population 59,911, had three fewer cases, 47, in the most recent two-week span. Although its rate correspondingly dipped from 83.5 to 78.4 per 100,000, the county actually moved up to 50th after landing at 65th before, as other counties also saw declines.
Monroe and Noble counties' rates remained fourth (36.6) and second (27.7), respectively, from the bottom. Monroe reported five cases among its 13,654 inhabitants, down from seven and a rate of 51.3. Noble County, population 14,424, dropped from seven to four. Its previous rate was 48.5 per 100,000.
All five counties were classified as low on the COVID Community Levels issued weekly by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Based on new cases per 100,000 people and hospitalization statistics in the previous seven days, the metric assigns each county one of three levels.
Residents of counties labeled low are advised to talk with a health care provider about possible precautions if they are at greater risk for serious illness. Those people are advised to wear masks or respirators in indoor, public settings when a county is classified as medium. That advice applies to everyone in counties tagged as high.
Washington County was medium last week; the other four were low.