UPDATE – Sunday, April 19 – The Marion Star is reporting today that Marion County now has the highest number of coronavirus cases in Ohio, with 1,834 cases reported. This number exceeds current cases in 16 US states.
The two counties are adjacent to each other in central and north central Ohio.
Marion County is much smaller, population-wise, than its southern neighbor. The US Census Bureau estimated that 209,177 people lived in Delaware County in 2019, as compared to 65,093 people in Marion County.
The statewide report released on Saturday on COVID-19 infections, however, shows dramatically different impacts of the virus, with the smaller county registering a 130% increase in just one day.
The Delaware General Health District’s Saturday update indicated that there were no new confirmed or probably cases in the last 24 hours. 103 residents have been tested and confirmed with COVID-19, with an additional 28 counted in the “probable” category. Of those 103, 85 have already recovered, and 3 individuals are currently hospitalized.
Marion County, however, showed a one day increase of 555 confirmed cases, bringing its total to 983. This figure means that the county has the third-highest number of cases in Ohio, behind only Cuyahoga and Franklin Counties.
After the release of state statistics, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction updated its figures, and the prison has now had 1,057 confirmed cases.
The reason for this difference is almost entirely the presence of a Coronavirus breakout at the Marion Correctional Institution, the hardest-hit prison in the state. Not only are inmates impacted, but over 90 employees at the prison had also tested positive.
On Friday, the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction announced that the Marion facility will now the second prison in Ohio to receive a deployment of National Guard troops to assist with critical functions of prison operation.
