The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached the U.S. state of Ohio on March 9, 2020, when the state's first cases were reported. The first death from COVID-19 in Ohio was reported on March 19. Subsequently, records supported by further testing showed that undetected cases had existed in Ohio since early January, with the first confirmed death on March 17. By April 23, Ohio had 656 confirmed deaths; by May 1, there were 1,002 confirmed deaths. Accurate data was difficult to obtain due to limited test availability. By December 12, a total of 553,461 cases had been reported leading to 31,803 hospitalizations and 7,477 deaths.
, Ohio has administered the updated vaccine, first available August 2024, to 1,234,206 individuals, or 10.56% of the population, a change of 3,627 in the previous week. , the state department of health reported 89,950 hospitalizations and 27,084 deaths since January 1, 2021, among individuals not reported as fully vaccinated, and 6,801 hospitalizations and 1,534 deaths among fully vaccinated individuals in the same time period.
Spread of virus
2020
March On March 9, Governor Mike DeWine reported Ohio's first 3 cases in Cuyahoga County, a couple who had returned from a Nile River cruise, and a man who had returned from an annual conference in Washington, D.C., where other cases of coronavirus had been reported. Two days later, a fourth case, and the first instance of community spread, was confirmed by DeWine in Stark County. Later tests showed the first case was February 15.
By March 13, there were a total of 13 cases, with 159 others under observation. Within a week the first death was announced. Mark Wagoner, Sr, a prominent Toledo attorney and friend of DeWine, died March 19. Later tests showed the first coronavirus death had been March 17.
By March 23, there were a cumulative 442 COVID-19 cases, 6 of which resulted in death. By April 5 there were 4,043 cases, 1,104 hospitalizations including 346 ICU admissions, and 119 deaths. As of April 9, twenty percent of cases involved healthcare workers. By April 13 there were 6,975 cases, 2,033 hospitalizations including 613 ICU admissions, and 274 deaths.
April On April 14, Ohio had an additional 50 deaths for a total of 324.
By April 17, the state had 9,107 confirmed and probable cases including 418 confirmed and probable deaths. On the 25th the number of cases reached 15,587 and the number of deaths reached 711. By April 28 Ohio had 16,769 cases, 3,340 hospitalizations including 1,004 ICU admissions, and 799 deaths. On April 28, Vinton County first had cases reported to the state, so all 88 counties in Ohio had confirmed cases. By May 4, there were 20,474 cases reported, including 1,056 deaths.
On April 23, nearly 80% of inmates tested positive at two overcrowded Ohio prisons. At Marion Correctional Institution, there were 2,011 infected inmates and 157 infected workers, with two inmate and one worker deaths. At Pickaway Correctional Institution there were 1,555 infected inmates, 73 infected employees, and ten inmate deaths.
May On May 12, Ohio had reached 25,250 total cases, including 1,232 ICU admissions and 1,436 deaths. On May 12, the state department of health noted that antibody tests showed presence of the disease as early as January 7, with positive results in several counties in January.
On May 20, the state announced that 1,247 of 1,781 deaths announced to that date, or 70 percent, were in nursing home or long-term care facilities. By May 26 there had been 33,006 reported cases, leading to 5,579 hospitalizations and 2,002 deaths. 1,450 of the hospitalizations were ICU admissions.
By May 21, in Ohio prisons more than 4,500 inmates had tested positive, with four prison worker and 63 inmate deaths. Mass-testing in prisons had been stopped in late April.
June In late June and early July, some counties in Ohio experienced a sharp increase in cases.
July On July 4, 91 cases were reported as the result of a 56-year-old man who had attended a church service on June 14 when he was contagious.
On July 22, the City of Cleveland reported 70 new cases among its residents but no new deaths.
August On August 6, Governor DeWine said that an infected man who attended a single church service caused an outbreak of 91 COVID-19 cases.
On August 21, Ohio State University issued 228 interim suspensions to students for violations of COVID-19 safety guidelines.
September On September 1, Miami University announced plans for testing of all students. Many of the 27 cases reported among athletes had been traced to an off-campus gathering in early August. Between August 17 and September 3, about 704 Miami students had tested positive.
On September 3, Ohio State University reported 882 positive cases among students and 20 positive cases among employees. Off-campus students tested in the previous 24 hours had a 9.66 positivity rate, while on-campus students had a 5.7 percent positivity rate. Further suspensions may be issued for gatherings of ten or more people without masks or social distancing. The University of Dayton announced that the cumulative number of positive cases among on-campus students was 1,042, almost 10% of all students, and included 639 active cases.
On September 20, Ohio State reached 2,580 cumulative positive tests, surpassing the total cases at the Marion Correctional Institution, to become the largest outbreak in the state.
October As of October 1, there have been 155,314 reported cases in Ohio, leading to 4,817 deaths. By October 12, there were 170,179 reported cases, leading to 5,005 deaths. By October 16, there were 177,991 reported cases leading to 5,054 deaths.
On October 22, 38 Ohio counties were on red alert for coronavirus spread. Cuyahoga, Clark and Hamilton County were on "watch" for declaration of a purple "public emergency" level, having met the criteria for one out of the two weeks required. By October 22, 190,430 cases were reported in Ohio since the beginning of the pandemic, leading to 5,161 deaths. By October 27, 202,740 cases were reported, leading to 5,239 deaths. On October 29, the number of new cases recorded in 24 hours topped 3,500 for the first time. 3,845 new cases were reported October 30.
On October 29, Ohio had 3,590 new cases in a 24-hour period. This was the first time the state surpassed 3,000 daily cases, and 25% higher than the record high on the previous Saturday. 43% of Ohio counties, and 78% of Ohio residents were coded "red" for high exposure and spread.
On October 31, the 7-day test positivity rate was 6.9%. Two restaurants in Cleveland were cited for violating health orders with large Halloween gatherings.
November By November 2, 221,909 COVID-19 cases had been reported, leading to 5,340 deaths. On November 3, classes were canceled at Clyde High School in Clyde due to several positive cases. By November 4, 230,209 cases had been reported. Those cases have led to 5,428 deaths. The total number of cases surpassed 250,000 on November 8. 7,101 cases were reported on November 12, which was the highest number of cases recorded in a day since Ohio began recording. The record was again broken on November 13, when 8,071 new cases were recorded. By November 19, 326,615 cases had been reported, leading to 5,890 deaths. On November 20, 8,808 cases had been reported in 24 hours. The total number of cases surpassed 350,000 on November 22. On November 23, 11,885 new cases were reported and the number of total deaths caused by the virus surpassed 6,000. The number of deaths reported in 24 hours was 98 on November 24. On November 27, 17,065 new cases were reported for a two-day period after no report for Thanksgiving on November 26. As of November 28, 406,703 total cases had been reported.
December By December 1, the number of total cases had increased to 430,093. By December 6, there were 475,024 total reported cases leading to 6,959 deaths. By December 7, the number of deaths surpassed 7,000. By December 8, the number of total cases reported was 510,018 while the total number of hospitalizations was 30,226. By December 10, a total of 7,298 people in Ohio had died from the virus. By December 12, a total of 553,461 cases had been reported leading to 31,803 hospitalizations and 7,477 deaths. The number of total cases surpassed 600,000 on December 18. On December 19, the total number of deaths surpassed 8,000. As of December 26, 664,668 total cases had been reported. By December 31, 700,380 cases had been reported.
2021
January By January 3, 2021, the total number of deaths had increased to 9,076. By January 6, the number of total hospitalizations had increased to 40,104. By January 7, 753,068 total cases had been reported. By January 14, 807,293 cases had been reported, leading to 9,990 deaths. By January 15, the total number of deaths surpassed 10,000. The number of deaths surpassed 11,000 on January 28.
February As of February 2, 902,736 total cases had been reported. By February 11, there were 12,577 deaths. By February 12, a total of 15,136 deaths had been reported. By February 13, 16,340 deaths had been reported. In February, the Ohio Department of Health reported that it was reconciling death totals, which caused a fluctuation in numbers over several days. By February 22, 955,378 cases had been reported since the pandemic began. By February 24, the number of deaths caused by the virus was 17,045. By February 26, there were 50,118 hospitalizations.
March By March 22, 1,001,194 cases had been reported since the pandemic began.
April On April 5, it was reported that there had been 18,643 deaths in the state since the beginning of the pandemic.
May By May 19, there were 1,093,534 reported cases and 19,628 deaths. On May 27, the number of total cases surpassed 1,100,000.
June On June 5, Governor DeWine announced that the state had fewer than 50 per 100,000 COVID-19 cases in the previous two weeks, subtracting those in jails and prisons. This was the rate previously announced for removal of health orders, which occurred June 2. On June 8, the state reported more than 20,000 Ohio residents had died from COVID-19.
July As of July 22, a total of 1,120,120 cases had been reported.
August As of August 1, a total of 1,130,134 cases had been reported leading to 61,939 hospitalizations. As of August 12, a total of 1,152,590 cases had been reported. As of August 20, a total of 1,175,340 cases has been reported. By August 27, the number of cases surpassed 1.2 million.
October By October 19, Ohio had surpassed more than 1.5 million total reported cases.
November As of November 4, there had been a total of 1,560,695 cases, leading to 80,615 hospitalizations. As of November 5, there had been 25,067 deaths.
December On December 31, the state announced more than two million cases since the beginning of the pandemic.
2022
January
On January 25, a total of 2,520,112 COVID-19 cases had been reported in Ohio.
March
On March 10, Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, director of the Ohio Department of Health, announced that daily reporting of COVID-19 data would end Monday, March 14. He said, "The situation is improving and our experience with COVID-19 is [shifting] from a pandemic to endemic state." The plan was to update most statistics on Thursdays.
Spread by age range + AgeCasesHospitalizationsDeaths% fatal 80+212,55034,77919,3109.08 70–79287,33036,05811,7344.08 60–69436,30232,3267,9641.82 50–59522,56121,1523,5700.68 40–49523,47011,7941,2740.24 30–39600,3158,4695160.09 20–29642,0116,2071560.024 0–19670,1856,005700.010 Total3,899,106156,81244,5941.14 Source: Ohio dashboard, January 9, 2025.Note: all data is preliminary and subject to change as more information is reported
Spread by county
Graphs of statistics by date from the Ohio Department of Health
Cases by date
Deaths by date
Hospital admissions by date
Diagnostic tests by date
Percent test positivity by date
Government response