Highland County is seeing 42 new COVID-19 cases each day, which is about 98 cases per 100,000 residents, according to The New York Times COVID Tracker on Monday.

The number of new Covid cases in the county rose steadily for several weeks, according to the Tracker, since Aug. 12 when it said the county was averaging 9.7 new cases per day.

That case numbers continue to rise until Sept. 2 when an average of 59 new cases each day was reported. On Sept. 7, that figure had dropped to 54 new cases daily.

According to the Ohio Department of Health’s (ODH) Coronavirus Dashboard, which is updated every Thursday, Highland County’s case rate was second in the state at 1,397.1 cases per 100,000 over the prior two weeks, with 603 cases for a population of 43,161. The dashboard said the average statewide case rate was 582.4 cases per 100,000 over the prior two weeks before Thursday.

Highland County has continued its stay in the highest risk category in terms of community transmission, according to the Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) COVID Data Tracker which was updated Monday. There are four different levels of community transmission — Low, Moderate, Substantial and High. Highland County is currently in the “High” designation.

The CDC said the data for this tracker comes from the total number of new cases per 100,000 people within the last seven days and the percentage of positive diagnostic and screening nucleic acid amplification tests during the last seven days.

In terms of vaccinations, Highland County is currently at 33.95 percent of its residents that have started their vaccines, according to the ODH COVID-19 Vaccination Dashboard. The state average for “vaccine started” is 52.89 percent.

In terms of completed vaccines, the state average is 48.92 percent, whereas the Highland County average is 30.52 percent.

Both full statistics for Highland County and Ohio can be seen below.

According to the dashboard on Monday, the following are the figures for the percentage of county residents that have started the vaccination process:

* 0-19 — 826 people, or 7.42 percent, have started their vaccines.

* 20-29 — 1,069 people, or 21.66 percent, have started their vaccines.

* 30-39 — 1,272 people, or 26.38 percent, have started their vaccines.

* 40-49 — 1,702 people, or 32.30 percent, have started their vaccines.

* 50-59 — 2,598 people, or 44.86 percent, have started their vaccines.

* 60-64 — 1,734 people, or 56.91 percent, have started their vaccines.

* 65-69 — 1,651 people, or 63.77 percent, have started their vaccines.

* 70-74 — 1,465 people, or 68.65 percent, have started their vaccines.

* 75-79 — 1,033 people, or 68.77 percent, have started their vaccines.

* 80 and over — 1,304 people, or 67.11 percent, have started their vaccines.

According to the dashboard, 30.52 percent of the population in Highland County has completed its vaccinations, equaling 13,174 people. 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 — 638 people, or 5.73 percent, have completed their vaccines.

* 20-29 — 873 people, or 17.69 percent, have completed their vaccines.

* 30-39 — 1,058 people, or 21.95 percent, have completed their vaccines.

* 40-49 — 1,496 people, or 28.39 percent, have completed their vaccines.

* 50-59 — 2,338 people, or 40.37 percent, have completed their vaccines.

* 60-64 — 1,616 people, or 53.04 percent, have completed their vaccines.

* 65-69 — 1,526 people, or 58.94 percent, have completed their vaccines.

* 70-74 — 1,402 people, or 65.70 percent, have completed their vaccines.

* 75-79 — 986 people, or 65.65 percent, have completed their vaccines.

* 80 and over — 1,241 people, or 63.87 percent, have completed their vaccines.

According to the dashboard on Monday, 52.89 percent of the Ohio population has started its vaccinations, equaling 6,182,195 people.

Reach Jacob Clary at 937-402-2570.