By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
As more businesses open and social restrictions loosen, the Wood County Health Department plans to provide more detailed data to help local residents stay safe.
For more than two months, the health department has been reporting daily updates on the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in the county. Starting Wednesday, the data will get more detailed in order to help residents follow the trends seen in local cases.
“I think we’re moving into a new phase of monitoring and tracking the virus,” Wood County Health Commissioner Ben Batey said Tuesday morning during the weekly COVID-19 conference call with county officials.
The goal is to offer more detailed data each Wednesday, along with the detailed information already being provided every Wednesday on coronavirus cases in long-term care facilities.
Batey is hoping local residents will use the additional information to stay safe this summer.
“So they can make decisions for themselves and their families,” he said. “We want to give people the most information possible.”
As of Tuesday, Wood County has had 300 confirmed and probable cases of COVID-19, with 47 deaths. The rate of increased cases has leveled out recently to a “low and steady” number, Batey said.
The new data will break down who is being most affected in Wood County. The information will change, as more businesses open and events occur.
For example, with day care sites being allowed to open on May 31, and the protest being held in Bowling Green on the same day, some increases may be seen in the next couple weeks.
“We’re going to be watching those things,” Batey said.
The health commissioner is hoping the summer may bring some relief, with people not congregated inside, and with warmer weather possibly having the same effect it has in reducing the common flu cases.
“Are we good for the summer?” he asked. “That’s the hope – that the numbers stay low.”
People want some sense of normalcy this summer, Batey said. And the state is looking at designated county alerts, rather than statewide alerts, when spikes in cases are noted.
Wood County Emergency Management Agency Director Jeff Klein reported that his office is receiving questions about summer traveling. He suggested that people check restrictions before vacationing, since some places require quarantining in hotel rooms.
Batey was asked about the availability of antibody testing. Wood County Hospital officials hope to have some of the testing kits next week. But Batey said problems remain with the reliability of some of the testing.
Also on the call, Wood County Sheriff Mark Wasylyshyn said his office’s call volume is back up, but the jail population remains low at 75. No inmates or deputies have tested positive for the virus, he reported.
