Doctors talk COVID-19 becoming endemic in Ohio Department of Health news conference

Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff struck a hopeful tone about declining COVID-19 case counts in a news conference Friday, but he said the virus is "almost certainly here to stay." The new question is how to live with COVID-19 and how to best make the transition from a pandemic to an endemic disease, Vanderhoff said. To address those questions, Dr. Joseph Gastaldo, medical director of infectious diseases at Ohio Health, discussed the distinctions between pandemics and endemics. "In the scientific world, we use the word 'pandemic' to emphasize that it is the spread of a disease, or an infection in the study of COVID-19, in a population who has no immunity," he said. "When we say the word 'pandemic,' it really is a worldwide phenomenon." An endemic, however, is when a disease or infection "essentially persists in the population indefinitely," Gastaldo said. In the case of COVID-19, he said that will probably mean fewer peaks but a regular baseline level of infection that may vary based on the season. Gastaldo said immunity is the key to moving from a pandemic to an endemic for COVID-19, and the safest way to receive immunity is by getting vaccinated. Exposure to the virus also produces immunity but the amount can be variable, he said. Sixty percent of eligible Ohioans were vaccinated against COVID-19 as of Friday and 32 percent of those eligible had received a booster dose, according to Vanderhoff. Vaccination rates are lower among the younger age groups, but the long-term effects of COVID-19 infection are more concerning than any long-term effect of the shot that some parents worry about, said Dr. Patty Manning-Courtney, chief of staff at Cincinnati Children's Hospital. In his initial remarks, Vanderhoff expressed optimism about the future but continued to urge caution. "We are feeling hopeful as we begin February that better days are ahead. But remember, we are still a very long way from having case levels like those we were seeing in the late spring through the early fall," he said, adding that the state's cases per capita are significantly above what is considered a high level of transmission. Vanderhoff also pointed to data that showed the rapid rise and equally sudden fall of the omicron variant-fueled wave in the areas of Ohio that were initially hit hardest. In Cuyahoga County, for example, the peak of the omicron variant saw more than 3,000 new cases reported over two weeks per 100,000 population. Now, there were just 268 cases per 100,000 residents reported over the last two weeks in Cuyahoga County, the lowest incidence rate in the state. "This dramatic climb and subsequent fall illustrates the rapid cycle of omicron," Vanderhoff said. Lorain County, likewise, had one of Ohio's highest rates of COVID-19 spread when the omicron variant wave was peaking in Northeast Ohio. Now, data updated Thursday by the Ohio Department of Health showed Lorain County had the sixth-lowest rate of all Ohio counties, with 390.9 new cases reported per 100,000 residents over the last two weeks. The statewide average over that period was 949.5 new cases per 100,000 residents. Vanderhoff also discussed hospitalization data that is also trending downward, though still remaining high and "very concerning." Hospitalization for COVID-19 in Ohio reached a pandemic high of 6,749 patients Jan. 10 and has dropped 48 percent since then, he said. Hospitalizations have declined 65 percent in the greater Cleveland area in the last three weeks, Vanderhoff said. Declines of 60 percent in the Akron-Canton region and 44 percent in the Toledo region have also been seen, which along with greater Cleveland were the areas in Ohio initially hit hardest by the omicron variant. "Hospitalizations are declining in other parts of the state but they are not dropping this quickly in those other parts yet," Vanderhoff said. Contact Dylan Reynolds at (440) 329-7123 or dreynolds@chroniclet.com. Follow him on Twitter @drey1357.