Coronavirus: Darke County sees double-digit positive rate at testing site

DARKE COUNTY — The positivity rate for people tested at Wayne Hospital in Greenville this month is at 12.7 percent, which is well above the current 7-day rolling average for the state.

“It is generally recommended that a county should be at a Percent Positive below 5 percent,” said Dr. Terrence Holman, Darke County Health Commissioner. “From this, it can be seen that we are at a higher percentage than what is recommended. This data may not be representative of the entire county, as those who are out of county may also be tested at Wayne Hospital.”

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The state currently has a rolling 7-day average positivity rate of 4.3 percent. For perspective, Ohio has been issuing travel advisories for states that have a positivity rate of 15 percent or higher.

In data released Tuesday, Darke County was ranked second highest in the state for coronavirus case occurrence, which is measured by the number of cases per 100,000 people.

“We want to encourage everyone to wear masks, social distance, and cooperate with us with contact tracing,” Holman said.

Wayne Healthcare has been operating a drive-thru testing site at the Greenville hospital since April.

“Before opening the curbside testing site, there were no drive-thru options in Darke County, and patients presenting with COVID-19 symptoms and in possession of a provider’s order had to drive at least 30 minutes to be tested,” Jennifer Robinson, spokeswoman for Wayne Healthcare said.

Darke County also had the largest coronavirus outbreak in the state at a long-term care facility last week, when 55 residents and four staff members at Rest Haven nursing home tested positive for COVID-19.

The resident cases at Rest Haven accounted for 6.8 percent of all resident cases reported to the state last week.