Steady 'summer surge' sees Ohio COVID cases nearly triple in July

Ohio's "summer surge" of COVID-19 cases continues to be strong, as numbers creep into a weekly average of well over 5,000 cases across the state.

The KP.3.1.1 variant is currently the dominant variant in the United States, with the FLiRT KP.3 variant and the LB.1 variant not far behind.

There is no evidence to suggest that these strains are any more severe than previous ones. The Food and Drug Administration has advised vaccine manufacturers to target the shared JN.1 lineage of the strains rather than the variants themselves for upcoming available vaccines.

More: COVID-19 variant KP.3.1.1 becomes dominant in US: See latest CDC data

What are Ohio's COVID numbers?

The Ohio Department of Health reported 6,660 COVID-19 cases for the week of July 31 to August 7, a roughly 12% increase from the previous week's number at 5,962 reported cases.

May's case count totaled a little over 3,800, but cases nearly doubled in June, with 6,472 reported. Cases then nearly tripled in July at well over 18,000.

August could exceed those numbers if cases continue to rise like they have for months, with its current weekly average sitting at 5,732.

The state health department reminded Ohioans in early July that the numbers remain lower than the beginning of the year. According to data from the department, over 41,000 cases were reported in January 2024 alone.

Samantha Hendrickson is The Dispatch's medical business and health care reporter. She can be reached at shendrickson@dispatch.com .

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Steady 'summer surge' sees Ohio COVID cases nearly triple in July