COVID-19 cases in Highland County have dropped to 150.60 cases per 100,000 residents, according to an update from Highland County Health Commissioner Jared Warner.

Warner said it is a “nice improvement” from what it was in the last few weeks and that the other trends are “still good” in Highland County and Ohio. The county has seen 64 news cases in the last 14 days. He said that if Highland County wants to get to its goal of 50 cases per 100,000, it would need to have about 22 cases in the next 14-day period.

According to the Ohio Department of Health Public Health Advisory System as of Thursday, Highland County has 132.06 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents on a 14-day average. It is also still in a “Red” Level 3 Public Emergency, meaning there is “very high exposure and spread” in the county and people should limit their activities as much as possible.

According to the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) COVID-19 Dashboard on Thursday, since the pandemic began, Highland County has had 3,427 total COVID-19 cases, 179 hospitalizations, 58 deaths and 3,251 presumed recovered from the virus.

Warner pointed out that there have been case count increases in North America, Europe, Asia and South America.

“Europe especially is seeing a rapid increase in cases again. The last time this happened, the U.S. followed this trend about 2-3 weeks later,” Warner wrote on the Highland County Health Department’s Facebook page. “In this case, we have higher vaccination rates than much of Europe, so hopefully we don’t repeat past patterns of case spikes … Hopefully, vaccines will help to protect those most likely to require hospitalization and will prevent deaths from occurring at rates that we have seen with past case spikes.”

According to the latest health department update, the county has a completed vaccination rate of 19.53 percent, which is significantly less compared to the Ohio average of 28.42 percent.

According to the ODH dashboard, 8,566 Highland County residents have started their vaccinations. The ODH considers started as “when an individual has received at least one valid dose of COVID-19 vaccine.”

The dashboard lists the following COVID-19 figures for various age groups in Highland County:

* 0-19 — 32 people, or 0.29 percent, have started their vaccines.

* 20-29 — 253 people, or 5.13 percent, have started their vaccines.

* 30-39 — 443 people, or 9.19 percent, have started their vaccines.

* 40-49 — 745 people, or 14.14 percent, have started their vaccines.

* 50-59 — 1,475 people, or 25.47 percent, have started their vaccines.

* 60-64 — 1,189 people, or 39.02 percent, have started their vaccines.

* 65-69 — 1,269 people, or 49.02 percent, have started their vaccines.

* 70-74 — 1,159 people, or 54.31 percent, have started their vaccines.

* 75-79 — 862 people, or 57.39 percent, have started their vaccines.

* 80 and over — 1,139 people, or 58.62 percent, have started their vaccines.

According to the dashboard, 12.61 percent of the population in Highland County has completed its vaccinations, equaling 5,441 residents. The ODH considers completed when “an individual has received all recommended COVID-19 vaccine doses and is considered fully immunized.”

The dashboard lists the following COVID-19 figures for various age groups in Highland County:

* 0-19 — 11 people, or 0.10 percent, have completed their vaccines.

* 20-29 — 148 people, or 3.00 percent, have completed their vaccines.

* 30-39 — 253 people, or 5.25 percent, have completed their vaccines.

* 40-49 — 374 people, or 7.10 percent, have completed their vaccines.

* 50-59 — 618 people, or 10.67 percent, have completed their vaccines.

* 60-64 — 530 people, or 17.39 percent, have completed their vaccines.

* 65-69 — 829 people, or 32.02 percent, have completed their vaccines.

* 70-74 — 944 people, or 44.24 percent, have completed their vaccines.

* 75-79 — 726 people, or 48.34 percent, have completed their vaccines.

* 80 and over — 1,008 people, or 51.88 percent, have completed their vaccines.

Warner said the health department still has open spots for its Friday COVID-19 clinic and has also opened spots for next week’s Thursday clinic. To register, go to https://highlandcovidvax.timetap.com or call 614-881-1882.

“We are going to continue to see Highland County fall behind other parts of the state for vaccination rates unless we see more vaccine interest locally,” Warner said.

Reach Jacob Clary at 937-402-2570.