Ohio - The Ohio Department of Health gave a briefing early Tuesday about the rising COVID-19 cases in Ohio. 

Ohio is continuing to see COVID-19 cases increase throughout the state due to the Delta variant wave. More than 3,000 cases have been reported a day in Ohio, and most recently 4,000 to 5,000 cases have been reported daily.  

According to the Director of Ohio Department of Health Bruce Vanderhoff, the high number of cases that Ohio is experiencing compares to highs recorded during Ohio's winter surge. 

The case numbers seen now in Ohio are 10 times higher than cases in July. 

Unlike surges of Covid-19 in the past, people of all ages are having to be hospitalized because of Covid-19. 

According to the Ohio Hospital Association, about 1 in 8 patients in the hospital has Covid-19 and 1 in 5 patients in the ICU has Covid-19. 

Hospitals are being filled by unvaccinated Covid-19 patients. More than 80-90% of Covid-19 patients in the hospitals right now are unvaccinated, and about 90% of patients in the ICU are unvaccinated. 

Dr. Vanderhoff explains that higher vaccination rates will help keep kids in school 5 days a week all year long. 

To keep kids attending school in person, Vanderhoff recommends schools adhere to Covid-19 prevention measures such as mask requirements, social distancing, contact tracing and surface cleaning. 

Nationally and statewide, children's hospitals have reported that Covid-19 cases are rising amongst children.

A year ago, kids were getting Covid-19, but were not getting severely sick. Kids are now more susceptible to having respiratory failure, organ failure and different symptoms that adults have experienced. Dr. Wong says that it can no longer claim that kids are not getting sick with Covid-19 the way it was claimed in the past. 

Hospitals are also experiencing staffing issues. According to Cincinnati Children's Hospital Pediatric Care Specialist Dr. Hector Wong, healthcare workers are exhausted, mentally drained, and are choosing to leave the workforce. 

Since kids are now facing the flu season along with the Delta wave, Dr. Wong suggest that kids over 12 years old become vaccinated. Kids should be vaccinated for the flu as well and kids should be kept away from others who are sick and keeping them home from school if they aren't feeling well. 

Dr. Vanderhoff and Dr. Wong reiterate that masks prove no threat to children, and that the vaccine and masks are the best defense against Covid-19. 

Today, Ohio reported 7,087 new Covid-19 cases, once again surpassing the 21 day average of 3, 929. Ohio hasn't seen this kind of case high since winter. 

Mahoning County reported 19 new Covid-19 cases on September 1, bringing their total cases to 24,496 and 1, 159 total hospitalizations. 

Trumbull County reported 14 new Covid-19 cases on September 1, bringing their total cases to 18,119  and their total hospitalizations to 1,346

Mahoning County's vaccination rate is at 50.44% while Trumbull County is at 48.21%.