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COVID surge: Positivity rate hits 54% at Summit County drive-thru testing site

Summit County Public Health says the high positivity rate came from a total of 2,300 tests that were administered from Dec. 28-30.

AKRON, Ohio — Editor's note: Video in the player at the top of this story was originally published in an unrelated COVID article on Jan. 4, 2021.

As COVID cases surge throughout the state, Summit County Public Health says their drive-thru mass testing operation last week resulted in a positivity rate of 54 percent.

Summit County Public Health says the high positivity rate came from a total of 2,300 tests that were administered from Dec. 28-30.

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For context, Summit County Public Health says a previous mass testing operation from December of 2020 brought a positivity rate of approximately 20 percent before their teams shifted their efforts as a mass vaccination location.

This 54 percent positivity rate is well above the state’s seven-day average, which currently stands at 30.5 percent.

Summit County has recorded 95,663 total COVID cases with 7,178 hospitalizations and 1,316 deaths since the pandemic began. The county is also reporting that 59.41 percent of its residents are now considered fully vaccinated, which is slightly above the statewide rate at 55.18 percent.

Ohio’s COVID cases have been climbing in recent weeks amid the omicron and delta variants. Tuesday’s data showed the state reported 20,411 new COVID cases – well above the 21-day average of 14,101. There were also 708 new COVID-related hospitalizations reported, which is more than double Ohio’s 21-day average of 322.

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