Highland County schools saw 15 new COVID-19 cases from Sept. 27 to Oct. 3, according to an Ohio Department of Health (ODH) system report Monday that documents how each school in the county is faring with COVID-19 during this school year. That was a drop from last week’s system update when the county schools had more than 25 total cases.

Following are the total number of COVID-19 cases each county school has had during the entirety of the pandemic as well as the number of new cases those schools had from Sept. 27 to Oct. 3:

* Bright Local School District had no new student or staff cases. It has had 20 total student cases and three total staff cases.

* Fairfield Local School District had one new student case, but no new staff cases. It has had 56 total student cases and 15 total staff cases.

* Greenfield Exempted Village School District had four new student cases and one new staff case. It has had 102 total student cases and 17 total staff cases.

* Highland County Board of DD had no new student or staff cases, and has had no total student or staff cases so far this school year.

* The Hillsboro Christian Academy Preschool had no new student or staff cases. It has had two total student cases and three total staff cases.

* The Hillsboro Christian Academy Private School had no new student or staff cases. It has had two total student cases and three total staff cases.

* Hillsboro City School District had four new student cases and three new staff cases. It has had 89 total student cases and 19 total staff cases.

* Lynchburg-Clay Local School District had two new student cases, but no new staff cases. It has had 20 total student cases and two total staff cases.

* St. Mary Catholic Preschool had no new student or staff cases. It has had no total student or staff cases so far this school year.

* St. Mary Catholic Private School had no new student or staff cases. It has had three total student cases and one total staff case so far this school year.

* Stonewall Academy had no new student or staff cases. It has had no total student or staff cases so far this school year.

Highland County is seeing 17 new COVID-19 cases each day, which is about 40 cases per 100,000 in population, according to The New York Times COVID Tracker, which was last updated on Monday.

Highland County has also 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 last updated on Saturday. 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 two different indicators of categorization: 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 (NAAT) during the last seven days.

In terms of vaccinations, Highland County is currently at 35.50 percent of the county’s residents for starting their vaccines, according to the ODH COVID-19 Vaccination Dashboard. The state average for “vaccine started” is 54.51 percent.

In terms of completed vaccines, the state average is 50.79 percent, whereas the Highland County average is 32.42 percent.

The dashboard also said there have been 342 “third” doses taken in the county on or after Aug. 12, 2021, from people that were already fully vaccinated.

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

* 0-19 — 897 people, or 8.060 percent, have started their vaccines.

* 20-29 — 1,177 people, or 23.84 percent, have started their vaccines.

* 30-39 — 1,381 people, or 28.64 percent, have started their vaccines.

* 40-49 — 1,826 people, or 34.66 percent, have started their vaccines.

* 50-59 — 2,731 people, or 47.16 percent, have started their vaccines.

* 60-64 — 1,774 people, or 58.22 percent, have started their vaccines.

* 65-69 — 1,684 people, or 65.03 percent, have started their vaccines.

* 70-74 — 1,486 people, or 69.63 percent, have started their vaccines.

* 75-79 — 1,048 people, or 69.76 percent, have started their vaccines.

* 80 and over — 1,318 people, or 67.82 percent, have started their vaccines.

According to the dashboard, 32.43 percent of the population in Highland County has completed its vaccinations, equaling 13,995 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 — 770 people, or 6.919 percent, have completed their vaccines.

* 20-29 — 995 people, or 20.16 percent, have completed their vaccines.

* 30-39 — 1,190 people, or 24.68 percent, have completed their vaccines.

* 40-49 — 1,629 people, or 30.91 percent, have completed their vaccines.

* 50-59 — 2,495 people, or 43.07 percent, have completed their vaccines.

* 60-64 — 1,672 people, or 54.86 percent, have completed their vaccines.

* 65-69 — 1,564 people, or 60.40 percent, have completed their vaccines.

* 70-74 — 1,421 people, or 66.59 percent, have completed their vaccines.

* 75-79 — 997 people, or 66.37 percent, have completed their vaccines.

* 80 and over — 1,262 people, or 64.95 percent, have completed their vaccines.

Reach Jacob Clary at 937-402-2570.