long term care

Ohio’s current COVID-19 hospitalizations and average new case numbers continued a downward slide on Thursday as more people receive vaccinations against the coronavirus.

Still, the virus remains widespread throughout the state, with all but four of Ohio’s 88 counties at the second highest alert level for viral spread.

Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, the state’s chief medical officer, urged Ohioans to continue wearing masks and maintaining physical distance from one another, particularly as new strains of the virus circulate.

Ohio has lifted its statewide curfew because the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations has stayed below 2,500 for seven consecutive days, Gov. Mike DeWine announced at his coronavirus briefing Thursday. He said a curfew may be reinstated in the future, in particular if cases climb due to more contagious variants of the virus.

“It’s very important for us to continue to do what we've been doing,” he said. “Let's get the vaccine in our arms as quick as we can. But at the same time, we've got to continue to wear a mask. We've got to continue to keep the distancing.”

It had been months since Tremellia Hobbs had an excuse to bring out the pompoms. Before the pandemic, they were a crowd favorite during movie nights and bingo tournaments that Hobbs organized as activities director at the nursing home.

Angela Smith can’t access her email – she has no computer, no tablet, no high-cost data plan and the library’s closed.

Smith, 48, is taking care of her 74-year-old mother, Minnie, in the Cedar Extension High-Rise senior apartments on East 30th Street, a Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority building just down the street from Cleveland’s main post office. 

Angela has Type 2 diabetes and Minnie has rheumatoid arthritis in her hands, feet and hips. 

Even as the first doses of vaccine arrive in nursing homes and assisted living communities, the COVID-19 death toll among residents and staff of these facilities continues climbing to staggering heights, with the final month of 2020 proving to be the deadliest of the pandemic for long-term care.

There were more than 5,600 deaths linked to long-term care in the last week of December.

On their last phone call, Chelsea Reed says her “proud” mother broke down, distraught about fears of dying alone in her long-term care facility, Rosewalk Village on Indianapolis’ east side.