Monday, May 18th, 2020
Officials: St. Henry man dies of virus
20 new cases raise Mercer County to 137
By Leslie Gartrell
CELINA - A second person has died and more than 20 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in Mercer County over the weekend, raising the county's confirmed total to 137.
The second death was a St. Henry man from the age of 90-100, according to Mercer County Health District administrator Jason Menchhofer. He said the man died on Saturday.
In Auglaize County, two new cases of COVID-19 raised that county's total of confirmed and probable cases to 56.
According to two news releases from the Mercer County Health District over the weekend, 14 new confirmed cases involved females: one from the age of 10-20, one from the age of 20-30, one from the age of 30-40, two from the age of 40-50, three from the age of 50-60, three from the age of 60-70 and three from the age of 90-100.
Six of the newly confirmed cases involve men: two from the age of 20-30, one from the age of 40-50, two from the age of 50-60 and one from the age of 70-80. In Saturday's release, the health department reported three people were hospitalized. The rest are self-isolating at home.
Menchhofer said the three women from the age of 90-100 are residents at The Gardens at St. Henry. An outbreak arose last week at the long-term care facility after an employee and a former resident tested positive for COVID-19. In total, the health department has reported four employees, one former resident and the aforementioned three current residents have tested positive.
The health department also reported 45 people who have recovered, 119 pending cases, 431 negative test results, nine hospitalizations and one death from COVID-19.
Demographic breakdowns were not available during the weekend. However, officials said they expect to have that information available on the online dashboard today. People can visit their website at mchdohio.org or the Mercer County Ohio Health District on Facebook for more information.
The Auglaize County Health Department over the weekend reported a 41-year-old woman and a 73-year-old woman are the two latest people to test positive.
The health department did not clarify if they were confirmed or probable cases.
The health department reported 56 total cases, 53 of which are confirmed and three are probable. The health department also reported 11 hospitalizations, 20 people who have recovered and three deaths from COVID-19.
Of the 56 total cases, 39 are women (70%) and 17 are men (30%) with an average age of 54.
Health officials report people as recovered from COVID-19 when they are released from isolation. Infected people who have been put into isolation are released from quarantine when at least seven days have passed since the onset of symptoms, they have been fever-free for at least 72 hours without taking fever-reducing medication and respiratory symptoms have improved.
As of Sunday evening, the Ohio Department of Health reported 27,923 confirmed and probable cases, 4,921 hospitalizations and 1,625 confirmed and probable deaths from COVID-19.
