TOLEDO, Ohio —
Data from the Ohio Department of Health shows Northwest Ohio has the highest rate of COVID-19 cases in the entire state.
With Thanksgiving right around the corner, local health leaders are encouraging people to take extra precautions before seeing family and friends.
"Again, vaccination, wearing the face-covering, making sure you have good hand hygiene. Do those things we've talked about, if you're sick, stay at home," Eric Zgodzinski, Toledo-Lucas County Health Commissioner, said.
Health leaders would like to change the trend of cases going up around the holidays.
"We've seen over the course of this pandemic, about 2 to 3 weeks after every holiday, we tend to see an increase in cases," Ben Robison, Wood County Health Commissioner, said.
Several local health departments are offering free rapid COVID-19 tests ahead of Thanksgiving.
Robison said these tests are great because they can be completed in just a short amount of time.
"They can be taken shortly before you engage in your holiday's celebrations and if gives you a chance to get another piece of information to see if you might have COVID and not realized it."
Health experts with the Ohio Department of Health, Wood County and Toledo-Lucas County Health Departments, say if you aren't yet vaccinated, choose to get vaccinated. If you are fully vaccinated, choose to get the booster.
Click here for information on picking up free, rapid at-home COVID-19 tests.