TOLEDO, Ohio — From Labor Day gatherings and the Solheim Cup, local health experts are concerned about what the future holds.
On Wednesday we talked to health officials with the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department about the possibility of a future COVID-19 case spike.
Health Commissioner Dr. Eric Zgodzinski said it may be too soon to predict anything, but we are not in the clear just yet.
Of course, in a perfect world, the Solheim Cup would have started and the pandemic would have been over.
But the reality is COVID-19's been here the whole time and it's surging again.
Local health officials tell WTOL 11 that Toledo's biggest event in decades, which opened the gates to huge crowds at not only the concerts but also the golf tournament itself, increased the potential for community spread.
"It is definitely a possibility. I'm not, you know, gonna say no. I'm not gonna say yes. Again, it all depends on a lot of variables. You know, we talked about being outside and you know how which way is the wind blowing. How fast is it blowing? How close were people?" Zgodzinski said.
According to the Ohio Department of Health, just over 51% of Lucas County's eligible residents are fully vaccinated.
But the health commissioner said he's seeing some positive signs.
"Over the last couple of weeks, we've actually seen an increase from what we saw two months ago. A month in a half ago. Which is a good thing. Again, you know we're at 51.36% of our population that's vaccinated," Zgodzinski said.
Still, those under 12 years of age aren't eligible for the vaccine.
And according to the Ohio Hospital Association, there's been about an 80% jump in the last week in the number of patients under 17 who are now in the hospital with COVID-19.
"We haven't seen that (surge in child cases) yet. Why is that? We don't know. The speculation is that you know, this started in the South of the United States and kinda worked its way up. So, is you know, is our time just coming to see increased ped(iatric) cases and increased cases? That's a good possibility," Zgodzinski said.
And health officials say it may also be a reason you're seeing schools that started the year without masks now mandating them.
On Wednesday, the health commissioner praised local hospital systems for doing everything they can during this pandemic.
But he's asking you to consider how hard they're working and for you to do your part by being vaccinated and making up.