COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – Saturday, Jan. 2, will mark one year of the coronavirus in Ohio.
Ohio reported its first cases of COVID-19 on March 9, but the health department’s backdating of cases to their onset date shows that seven people started feeling ill with the virus on Jan. 2:
- An Erie County woman 80 years or older
- A Licking County man in his 40s
- A Lucas County woman in her 30s
- A Mahoning County woman 80 or older
- A Mahoning County man in his 70s
- A Summit County woman in her 70s
- A Warren County woman in her 40s
Since those first seven cases, more than 700,000 people in Ohio have tested positive for the coronavirus as of Dec. 31. More than 38,000 of them have been hospitalized and nearly 9,000 have died from COVID-19.
700,380 total cases in one year is difficult to visualize. The timeline below tries to put that number in perspective.
In this visual timeline, one dot equals one case:
Jan. 2: The first seven Ohioans get sick from COVID-19.
Jan. 21: Ohio reaches 100 total cases.
Feb. 12: Ohio surpasses 200 total cases.
Feb. 26: Ohio surpasses 300 total cases.
March 1: Ohio reported its first COVID-19 death on March 20, but backdated death certificates put the state’s first COVID-19 death occurring on March 1, a Summit County woman in her 50s. By March, 349 Ohioans had tested positive for the virus.
March 6: Ohio surpasses 500 cases.
March 9: Gov. Mike DeWine declares a state of emergency.
March 13: Ohio surpasses 1,000 cases.
March 17: Ohio surpasses 2,000 cases.
March 23: Ohio Health Director Dr. Amy Acton issues a stay-at-home order.
March 28: Ohio surpasses 5,000 cases.
April 11: Ohio surpasses 10,000 cases.
April 16: The dots will stop for now, because when this reporter tried putting in all 700,000, the webpage crashed. (They’ll return later.)
The 104 days of red dots above amount to more than 12,000 cases, a number Ohio would end up hitting daily by late November.
April 18: Protesters rally at the Ohio Capitol in Columbus against the state’s stay-at-home order. (Photo by MEGAN JELINGER/AFP via Getty Images) 
April 18: Protesters rally at the Ohio Capitol in Columbus against the state’s stay-at-home order. (Photo by MEGAN JELINGER/AFP via Getty Images) 
April 18: Protesters rally at the Ohio Capitol in Columbus against the state’s stay-at-home order. (Photo by MEGAN JELINGER/AFP via Getty Images) 
April 20: Protesters rally at the Ohio Capitol in Columbus against the state’s stay-at-home order. (Photo by Matthew Hatcher/Getty Images) 
April 20: Protesters rally at the Ohio Capitol in Columbus against the state’s stay-at-home order. (Photo by Matthew Hatcher/Getty Images) 
April 20: Protesters rally at the Ohio Capitol in Columbus against the state’s stay-at-home order. (Photo by Matthew Hatcher/Getty Images)
April 25: Ohio surpasses 20,000 cases.
May 1: DeWine and Acton begin lifting restrictions from the stay-at-home order in May, starting the reopening process.
June 12: DeWine makes coronavirus testing accessible to all Ohio residents, even if they are not showing symptoms.
June 20: Ohio surpasses 50,000 cases. This milestone on the first day of summer began a summer spike of COVID-19 cases, as people – especially those in their 20s and 30s – socialized in the warm weather.
July 23: Face coverings are made mandatory in public spaces statewide.
July 30: Ohio surpasses 100,000 total cases.
Daily onset cases decreased as summer winded down, reaching a season-low 610 on Sept. 13. Ohio saw 105,164 cases from June 20 to Sept. 22 (the last day of summer), peaking at 1,882 in a single day.
But a month later, Ohio recorded 2,543 onset cases on Oct. 12, the first day over 2,000 since April. This ushered in an autumn spike that would bring the worst of the pandemic.
Oct. 20: Ohio surpasses 200,000 total cases.
Oct. 23: The state surpasses 3,000 cases per day, for 210,990 total.
Then it surpassed 4,000 cases per day on Oct. 28.
Then 6,000 cases per day on Nov. 2.
Then 9,000 cases per day on Nov. 9.
Then 10,000 cases per day on Nov. 16.
Ohio surpassed 12,000 cases per day on Nov. 23, for 416,061 total. In just one month, the state’s daily case record had quadrupled and its total case count had almost doubled.
Nov. 30: Ohio’s current record day for onset cases was set on Nov. 30, when 13,272 Ohioans started feeling symptoms. These cases – just one day’s worth – appear as purple dots below.
(Get ready to scroll.)
That was just one day.
Nov. 30’s cases account for less than 2% of Ohio’s overall total. In all, November saw 239,846 cases, the most of any month and more than 34% of the year’s total.
Dec. 1: In December, cases plateaued and have been slowly decreasing after people limited holiday gatherings and travel. The full impact of Christmas, however, will likely not be known until Jan. 9, because daily case counts are not considered final until 14 days after.
Dec. 3: Ohio surpasses 500,000 cases.
Dec. 8: Ohio surpasses 550,000 cases.
Dec. 14: Ohio surpasses 600,000 cases.
Dec. 17: Because Ohio’s backdating process makes onset day case counts preliminary and expected to rise for 14 days afterward, Dec. 17 is the last day before Dec. 31 with a case count considered complete. Thus, onset cases in the last half of December will continue to increase as we move into January.
Dec. 21: Ohio surpasses 650,000 cases.
Dec. 31: Ohio reaches 700,380 total cases… and counting.
2021
Here we are at the end of December, about to enter the 13th month of coronavirus infections in Ohio when the clock strikes midnight on Saturday.
Between Jan. 2 and Dec. 31, about 1 in every 16 of Ohio’s 11.7 million residents tested positive. More than 5% of them were then hospitalized, and 1% died.
The state is in its first phase of vaccinations, starting with health care workers, people in congregate settings and EMS responders. As of Thursday, 119,401 people in Ohio have received a dose of the vaccine, which is 1.02% of the population.
Columbus Health Commissioner Dr. Mysheika Roberts told NBC4 this week that the situation in Columbus might be “in a much better place” by summer 2021.
“Mask wearing is going to be with us for a while and we just need to embrace it and accept it,” Roberts said. “It’s going to take several months, almost probably close to a year, to get our community appropriately vaccinated.”
“As we head into the new year, we have new ho