TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) – The Ohio Department of Health reports that the number of cases has fallen from over 25,000 to under 21,000 over the past three weeks.

Meanwhile, the number of hospitalizations has increased to 626 this week from around 500 last week.

Health Commissioner Eric Zgodzinski says this is a topic everyone should keep in mind.

“When you start seeing hospitalizations starting to rise, I think that’s what we all should be seeing. No. But when we start seeing people end up in hospitals, we really say, ‘What’s going on in our community and what can we do to prevent those hospitalizations?’ You should,” said Zgodzinski.

Lisa Pengoff, chief executive of St. Paul’s Community Center, said the increase in cases was a concern.

“With the current rise, we assume it will get worse as it gets colder. It’s about figuring out how to make it possible,” Pengoff said.

Zgodzinski says the best prevention is vaccination.

“We’re doing pretty well with vaccine numbers across the community, but I’d like to strongly encourage as many unvaccinated people as possible to consider it.” Talk to your doctor. Make sure it suits you. I urge many people who have not been vaccinated to consider vaccination,” says Zgodzinski.

The Toledo Lucas County Health Department continues to hold immunization clinics. The clinic is open Monday through Thursday from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm and Friday from 9:00 am to 3:30 pm.

Is there a spelling or grammatical error in your story? Please include a title click here report it.

Copyright 2022 WTVG. all rights reserved.