COVID-19 cases are on the rise again in Belmont, Harrison and Monroe counties, local health department officials said.

Harrison County Health Administrator Garen Rhome said 50 new cases reported in the past week represent an increase of 25 percent. For some time now, cases in the county had seemed to plateau.

There are signs that restrictions on booster shots are being lifted. The Associated Press reported Friday that “U.S. regulators … moved to open up COVID-19 booster shots to all adults, expanding the government’s campaign” for shoring up protection against the illness in order to stay ahead of the rising numbers and prepare for the holidays.

Ohio, though, is not lifting those restrictions pending a decision by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to Belmont County Infectious Control Nurse Christine Genewein. This was confirmed by the Ohio Department of Health.

“At this time, we see no reason to jump the gun and act in any way that would be not in concert with their efforts,” Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff told a Cincinnati media outlet, referring to attempts at lifting booster restrictions.

Booster shots are currently recommended in Ohio for people age 65 or older as well as those at high risk of infection or complications due to health conditions or their occupations.

Rhome said the caseload is increasing across the state of Ohio as well. He said new daily cases have gone over 6,000 “twice in the last two days” with nearly 7,000 recorded in one day.

“I don’t think we’ve seen 6,000 cases at least in the last month,” Rhome said.

Just three weeks ago, the Buckeye State was reporting about 3,400 new cases per day. Rhome said the September surge, which was driven by the Delta variant, might have seen upwards of 25 percent of new reported cases among vaccinated people. That has now dropped to about 15 percent of newly recorded cases being among vaccinated people. He said only eight of the 50 newer cases in Harrison County were vaccinated. Regarding hospitalizations, just 5.3 percent are vaccinated, meaning the vast majority of those taking up hospital beds are unvaccinated people.

“We’re seeing more cases out in the community, we’re seeing it locally here,” Rhome said, though he felt it has nothing to do with the upcoming holidays.

Genewein, however, attributed some of the increase to “people getting ready for the holidays” — being out shopping for fear of a shortage on goods and products. She added that the rate of new cases in Belmont County cases has increased by 6 percent.

Monroe County’s Robin Groves, emergency response coordinator, said cases are also on the rise there, but “not greatly.” She said county health officials continue vaccinating those ages 5-11 and staging shot clinics regularly.

No resident of Monroe County is currently hospitalized with COVID-19, which is contrary to Belmont with 17 hospitalizations. Harrison County has fewer than five residents hospitalized with the virus.

Groves said Monroe County officials are seeing an uptick of infections in the younger crowd, ranging from infants to adults 40 years of age. She said 73 percent of COVID cases in the county are among the unvaccinated and 26 percent among the “fully vaccinated.”