COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – The Ohio Department of Health on Thursday reported 9,325 new COVID-19 cases, making for another small increase.

Weekly COVID-19 cases for Ohio have stayed in the four-digit range for seven weeks straight. While cases fell under 8,000 in mid-January, they teetered back above 9,000 toward the end of February. The early 2023 numbers have defied trends from the past two years, when COVID-19 infections historically swelled during and after the holiday season.

ODH began reporting COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, deaths and vaccinations weekly instead of daily in mid-March 2022 after new infections slowed to a low level after the omicron wave. Over the past seven days, the state averaged around 1,332 new coronavirus cases per day. The 395 hospitalizations reported by ODH in the past seven days -- about 56 per day -- decreased below the 435 reported last week, but stayed above the 349 hospitalizations in the week prior.

COVID-19 deaths decreased alongside hospitalizations in Ohio. ODH said 63 people died from the virus, which fell below both the 71 deaths the week prior and the 80 reported two weeks before.

Ohio saw a sizable decrease in people getting COVID-19 vaccinations. Ohioans starting the vaccine dropped to 1,688 compared to 2,827 in the week prior. Another 1,797 finished vaccination by getting their second dose, up from 2,804. Around six in 10 Ohioans are partially or fully vaccinated.