TOLEDO, Ohio — Nearly all of the National Guard members who were sent to assist with Lucas County hospitals during the most recent COVID-19 surge are wrapping up their mission in the area.
Hundreds of guard members were brought to the area last month to help with the county's two mass testing sites or to play a role inside Toledo hospitals.
When the troops first arrived, Lucas County was averaging more than 1,000 new cases per day, completely overwhelming the hospital systems.
Health commissioner Eric Zgodzinski said that while the county has vastly improved, residents can't let their guard down just yet.
"Hopefully, we go through this lull and let's hope that it stays a lull forever. But again, there's probably going to be another variant coming down and we're going to have to contend with that," he said.
During their time here, more than 6,000 people were tested between the two testing sites.
With cases slowly starting to fall off, Zgodzinski said the mission the members came here to do has been fulfilled.
"The concern that we need to have is that we need to get back to a normal life. So, an endemic state, if you would, of this disease. We're going to have to figure out what to do and how to do it in a new normal," he said.
The last group of National Guard members finished their deployment at Mercy Health St. Vincent Medical Center on Saturday.
The remaining guard members will be leaving ProMedica Flower Hospital Friday and Toledo Hospital on February 22, when elective surgeries are expected to return for ProMedica patients.