CADIZ — This past Tuesday and Wednesday, the state of Ohio broke records for newly reported cases of COVID-19, topping 12,000 new cases each day according to Harrison County Health Administrator Garen Rhome.

Prior to that, the state had never eclipsed 12,000 in a 24-hour period and it was done twice on consecutive days.

The omicron variant still has not reared its ugly head in Harrison County, he said, and breakthrough cases in people who have gotten sick after being vaccinated have not gone up, either.

Rhome said he’s not necessarily surprised by the lack of omicron cases in the local area, because of the way Harrison County and the surrounding area tends to lag behind the rest of the state.

“A lot of times Ohio will lag the nation by a week or two and then, here, our counties in this little region here, sometimes we lag Ohio by another week or two,” Rhome said, adding that the situation was similar in April during the initial cases of the delta variant. Anytime there is a global or national peak or valley in cases, he said the area does lag behind for a week or two.

Rhome said the omicron variant still appears to be mild, but the trend is clear: while the delta variant recedes, omicron is taking over.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said omicron now makes up 73% of new COVID cases in the United States.

Rhome said although omicron spreads rapidly, its effects seem relatively mild on vaccinated individuals.

“So, we would expect it to be milder among, you know, a largely vaccinated community or state or country,” he said while acknowledging that the omicron variant is more transmissible “than the previous variants.”

Rhome repeated what he’s been saying for weeks, and that is approximately 90% of COVID cases being reported now are found in unvaccinated patients. Health officials say they want to see a vaccination rate of 80-85%, but Harrison, Belmont and Monroe counties are all under 50% with Harrison at a low of 43.1%, according to Rhome.

For Belmont County, 48.3% of residents are considered fully vaccinated, but the case rate per 100,000 is just over 311 (100 per 100,000 is considered high), according to the CDC.

Belmont County Deputy Health Commissioner Robert Sproul also said via text message that there has been no omicron detected in his county yet, but 11,429 COVID cases have been confirmed throughout the pandemic. There are 18 residents hospitalized with the virus and 605 active cases with 10,660 recovered and 146 deaths.

“We still have test kits available for the public to pick up at our office,” Sproul said. “They are limited, but I have more on order.”

Monroe County shows 68 new cases since last week.

For the United States, Rhome said around 62% of people are considered fully vaccinated.

Rhome urges people to self-isolate when feeling sick, even if it interferes with holiday celebrations.

“You have to stay home if you’re feeling sick,” Rhome said, noting it’s about common sense whether one receives a call from the local health department or not. “You have to make the choice to stay away from the crowd.”

Officials from Monroe County could not be reached for comment.