By Melody Vallieu

Miami Valley Today

MIAMI COUNTY — Two more COVID-19 deaths have been recorded in Miami County.

As of Thursday, the county now has 30 coronavirus-related deaths, according to Miami County Public Health (MCPH) officials. The two latest deaths are both SpringMeade Health Center residents, including a 99-year-old female and 91-year-old male.

One more COVID-19 case also is being reported, according to MCPH officials, for a total of 317 cases in the county, up one case from Wednesday.

MCPH officials said while many people in the community have asked for data on those who have recovered, it simply isn’t possible at this time.

“The only way to confirm someone has ‘recovered’ is to test them multiple times until they have two negative tests 24/48 hours apart,” said Miami County Public Health Educator and Safe Communities Coordinator Vicky Knisley-Henry. “Ohio doesn’t have the testing capacity to do this for everyone.”

Moving forward, that could change, MCPH officials said.

“Now whether that will change moving forward with the increased testing, I’m not sure. Additionally, many of the 317 are antibody tests, which are done for asymptomatic people, indicating a past infection,” Knisley-Henry said.

Community spread cases also are hard to track, she said, so MCPH officials don’t know where the person may have caught the virus.

“Unless there’s an outbreak and we have the ability to pinpoint some time or event, there’s no way to know how someone gets infected,” Knisley-Henry said.

In Ohio, there are 26,357 total cases and 1,534 total deaths.

There have been 4,718 hospitalizations with 1,268 intensive care admissions.

Ages include under the age of 1 to 108 years old with a median age of 50. Cases included 54 percent males and 46 percent females.