CINCINNATI — The Ohio National Guard’s testing operations with Cincinnati hospitals concludes next week, officials said Wednesday.

What You Need To Know

• The Ohio National Guard supported hospitals and testing sites during surge


• Officials said service members to return to their civilian obligations


• The National Guard is supporting three testing sites and two hospitals in Hamilton County

The National Guard agreed to offer support until after the Super Bowl, so the city is prepared if related festivities lead to an uptick in cases. 

“The major operation right now that they're helping support is testing,” Hamilton County Health Commissioner Greg Kesterman told reporters Wednesday. “Just in case we see any types of increases, we want to make sure that we have capacity here in Hamilton County.”

Service members have been supporting three testing sites in Hamilton County during the omicron surge as part of a statewide deployment for COVID-19 response that began in December and involved nearly 2,400 Ohio National Guard and State Defense Force members.

Hamilton County Commissioner Denise Driehaus said she joined a call Tuesday with local hospital leaders and Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval, discussing the timing of the National Guard’s support coming to an end. 

“They're sticking around for another week,” she said. “You know, I hope we don't see a spike after the Super Bowl, but they have been gracious to say that they'll hang around another week for us.”

Two of the testing sites were operated in partnership with Ethos Laboratories, and the other was a partnership with UC Health.

The Ohio National Guard is also offering clinical, or general support at the Christ Hospital and University of Cincinnati Medical Center. 

Kesterman said the National Guard is scaling down its support in these hospitals. “That demand is starting to decrease, but they are still present,” he said.

In a statement Friday, Ohio National Guard spokesperson Stephanie Beougher confirmed that the COVID-19 mission is winding down, but there’s no set end date. 

“There are hospital and testing site support missions coming to a close in several regions of the state, so there’s expected to be a drawdown of the numbers during the next few weeks,” she said. “Many of the Ohio National Guard members, who served their community at a time of great need during the COVID surge, will be returning to their families, civilian obligations and military training.”

On Wednesday, 2,863 patients were hospitalized with COVID-19 in Ohio, a 57.6% decline from the peak on Jan. 10. In the region that includes Cincinnati, hospitalizations peaked a bit later on Jan. 19, and the region is showing a more modest decline of 39.9%. 

“Our numbers are trending down, but the numbers are still very high, and especially when it comes to the hospitalization and death numbers, so we’re not quite out of the woods yet,” Driehaus said.

As far as guidance for Super Bowl celebrations, officials urged residents to wear a mask when you’re in close quarters indoors and to stay home if you’re sick. 

Kesterman said they have not received reports of any outbreaks associated with watch events for the previous Bengals playoff games. 

“We’re very hopeful that will materialize again with the Super Bowl,” Kesterman said.