Coronavirus live updates: Columbus takes $9.1 million tourism hit, cases in Muscogee top 100
We’re tracking the most up-to-date information about the coronavirus in the Chattahoochee Valley. Check back for updates.
A $9.1 MILLION HIT
Events like food truck festivals, market days and Friday night concerts have been halted as performances at the Civic Center, Springer Opera House and RiverCenter have been canceled or rescheduled.
Peter Bowden, president and CEO of Visit Columbus, the city’s convention and visitor’s bureau, has watched it all unfold into an estimated $9.1 million loss.
More than 100 cases in Muscogee County
Muscogee County and its surrounding areas surpassed 650 coronavirus, or COVID-19, cases Thursday according to data from Georgia’s Department of Public Health. Muscogee County surpassed 100 confirmed cases following the state’s 7 p.m. update.
‘A piece of the Springer’ will help patients at Columbus hospital
The Springer Opera House costume shop is used to stitching costumes for upcoming productions, but now they are utilizing their skills in a new way during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Magnolia Manor reports more positive cases
Magnolia Manor President and CEO Mark R. Todd reported Thursday that the Americus Nursing Center has seven confirmed cases among residents.
Nine Americus Nursing Center staff have also tested positive, as have two employees at the campus retirement center. In addition, two staff at the Columbus nursing center have tested positive for COVID-19. They are possibly “victims of community spread,” according to the release.
Three Americus Nursing Center residents are being cared for at the Manor in a special isolation unit. One of the three is the organization’s original COVID-19 patient who has recovered and was discharged from the hospital. The other four are hospitalized at Phoebe Sumter Medical Center.
The Americus Nursing Center also has three presumptive cases who are being monitored in self-isolation. One former resident who previously tested positive has died after being transferred to a hospital out of the area.
