Athens County has reported 1,003 active COVID-19 cases, according to the Athens City-County Health Department, or ACCHD.
The department tweeted the morning of Sept. 14 that it will resume its daily online COVID-19 briefings Monday through Friday, which it was reporting previously during the height of the pandemic. The numbers will reflect Ohio Department of Health data from approximately 2:00 p.m. the previous day.
ACCHD reported 35 new cases in the county today, and a current death toll of 63. As of Sept. 13, 45.87% of Athens residents had at least started the vaccination process, with 42.68% of residents fully vaccinated.
On Monday, Greater Athens Area Health Systems representatives released a statement concerning the rising number of coronavirus cases in the county, which urged residents to wear their masks and get vaccinated, regardless of age or health status. In addition, the representatives expressed concern for medical providers’ abilities to adequately provide care for patients if severe cases continue to increase.
“Our communities are in crisis. We ask that you rally together and extend grace instead of being divided,” the release read. “The leaders of your community hospital are joining hands to fight for our community’s health. Please join us for the betterment of your loved ones and our communities.”
Ohio University continues to require weekly asymptomatic testing for unvaccinated students and faculty and recently instituted a requirement for all students and faculty to be vaccinated by Nov. 15. According to seven day averages from OU’s COVID-19 Dashboard, as of Sept. 8, the positivity rate of on-campus students is 8%, whereas the rate is 3.7% for off-campus students.
64.3% of all students and employees across OU campuses have reported getting vaccinated. Of the on-campus student population, 77.4% students are vaccinated.
