The Hamilton County Health Department announced another COVID-19 death Friday, bringing the county total to 42 as the number of people in the intensive care unit with the virus remains high.
The death - a white man between 51 and 60 years old - is the 12th death this month from the virus.
On Friday, the health department reported 111 new cases, bringing the county total to 4,721. The county is averaging 96 new cases a day over the past seven days, down from a seven-day average of 122 news cases per day at the beginning of the week.
The new data shows cases trending down slightly in Hamilton County, though the county remains among those with the highest per capita number of cases in the region when adjusted for population.
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The health department announced 60 hospitalizations Friday, with eight people under investigation for the virus, the lowest total in more than a week. However, 29 people remain in the ICU with the virus, one of the highest totals since the pandemic began.
After earlier removing data on the number of tests being conducted, the health department posted new data Friday, though the department noted that another merger of data is still necessary to provide an accurate day-by-day count of the tests. Without an accurate number of tests, it is unclear whether the rising numbers of cases are due to increased testing or further spread of the virus, calculated by the percent of tests being positive.
Contact Wyatt Massey at wmassey@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6249. Follow him on Twitter @news4mass.