Hamilton County has been averaging more than 2,700 COVID-19 cases over the past three weeks.
During a briefing Wednesday, county political and health leaders continued to urge the community to get vaccinated and avoid going to the ER to prevent further overloading the hospital system. County Commissioner Denise Driehaus said the region's ICUs are full and the workforce is exhausted.
"It's essential to recognize that and be kind to those health care workers and there's no greater act of kindness than to get the vaccine," Driehaus said.
More than 500 people are hospitalized within the region's hospital system with COVID-19. At least 167 of those patients are in the ICU with 125 on ventilators.
Health Commissioner Greg Kesterman says there are more than 9,000 active COVID-19 cases within the community and the county is averaging 325 cases per 100,000 people.
"We should use this as a constant reminder to realize that COVID is in our community," Kesterman said. "The CDC and Hamilton County Public Health and many partners are recommending caution when you go out and about. We're asking that you wear face masks and even if you're vaccinated, we think it's important to use that additional barrier to help slow the spread of COVID-19."
On average, the county sees 363 cases per day. It's lower than what was seen last December, but towers over what was reported before Aug. 1, which was 13 cases per day. The county's positivity rate is just shy of 11%. According to the CDC COVID Data Tracker, every county within the Tri-State area is showing a high rate of community transmission.
The Greater Cincinnati region, which includes Northern Kentucky, is seeing a positivity rate of 11.3% as of Sept. 21. At least 63% of the region has received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Multiple counties are reporting vaccination rates of at least 80%. Those counties are all located in Northern Kentucky.
To find more information on testing locations as well as additional resources during the pandemic, you can go to testandprotectcincy.com or 513relief.org.
