By Melody Vallieu

Miami Valley Today

MIAMI COUNTY — Miami County has surpassed the 100 mark of COVID-19 cases.

According to Miami County Public Health, the county has 101 positive cases, which includes 56 females and 45 males. Of the total cases, as of Tuesday afternoon, there are currently 37 hospitalizations.

There are now 12 recorded deaths in Miami County, however no information is currently available on the last two deaths, according to MCPH staff. The entire Miami Valley is reporting 24 deaths, with half of them in Miami County.

According to Miami County Public Health officials, if a Miami County resident dies outside the county, for instance in a hospital in Montgomery County, Miami County is not notified of the death. This is for any death, according to MCPH officials. In regard to the COVID-19 aspect, if a Miami County resident dies while in another county and they were tested for COVID-19, Miami County should receive any positive results for that test. While Miami County Public Health officials receive positive COVID-19 test results, there is often a lag time in that information getting to MCPH officials.

“This creates a challenging situation in reporting deaths and cases,” MCPH officials said.

MCPH officials said the age range of positive COVID-19 cases in the county is 16 to 96 with onset dates ranging from March 9-29. MCPH continues to work to understand the nursing home related versus community spread cases.

More cases should be expected into the future, MCPH officials said.

“As more testing becomes available and pending test results are starting to come in, we will see an increase until we hit that peak (Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Amy Acton) is talking about,” MCPH officials said.

At Kettering Health Network’s Troy Hospital, they continue to assess their personal protective equipment, or PPE, supplies, while preparing for the surge.

“We continue to monitor usage and patient volumes, and evaluate all options for sourcing supplies. Resources and stock are being moved and deployed to our hospitals and facilities as necessary,” said John Weimer, vice president, Network Emergency, Trauma and Operations Command Center.

Premier Health officials also assure that its Troy location remains completely functional for patients and staff, while continuing to plan for the peak.

“Currently, Upper Valley Medical Center has the capacity and equipment to take care of all respiratory patients being admitted to the hospital. In collaboration with community partners, we are actively monitoring admission needs and planning for the probable future increase of patients to be in the best position to provide the level of care needed.

“In collaboration with our public health partners, Greater Dayton Area Hospital Association and our community partners, and as the state of Ohio has required, we are actively working on our future preparedness to manage the COVID-19 spread. We have always partnered with other hospitals to ensure that patients have access to the right level of care. In addition, there is a regional surge plan is being coordinated through GDAHA that will ensure our patients continue to have access to appropriate care,” Premier Health officials said.

In Ohio, as of Tuesday, there were 4,782 confirmed cases of COVID-19 recorded in the state of Ohio, according to Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Amy Acton. There are 1,354 hospitalizations, and 417 people, or 9 percent, are in intensive care, according to Acton.

Confirmed cases in Ohio include 48 percent males and 51 percent females. Acton said the state is seeing slightly more females fall ill to the virus, but slightly more males dying.

To date, the state has tested more than 50,000 people, but shortages in testing supplies remain, Acton said.

Acton said the modeling shows that Ohioans are flattening the curve even further than they had hoped, stretching out the onset of the disease. Acton said, however, if the state’s residents were to let up on staying at home and social distancing, within two weeks, cases would bounce right back up above the curve.

“You’re winning the war to protect our scarce resources and keeping our hospitals being able to deal with this,” Acton said. “The second we let our foot off the gas, the second we are no longer that category 3 hurricane, it can pick up wind again, and it can be a category five.”