Protests could cause a rise in COVID-19 cases, Georgia health official says
Georgia Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Kathleen Toomey told reporters Tuesday there’s a risk COVID-19 cases could rise in the wake of statewide protests against police brutality and racism.
“This situation is no different than any other situation,” she said. “When you have this many people gathered together in close proximity, you run the risk of viral transmission.”
In addition to the risks that come with large gatherings, Toomey added that people participating in these protests could be coming from other states where COVID-19 infection rates might be higher. Those people could infect others in Georgia, she said.
“We need to be very vigilant,” Toomey said. “We are proactively doing our analysis of our hotspots because the situation is not only here in Atlanta but all the other locations there have been peaceful protests.”
The state health department and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms are working together to set up testing sites for Atlanta first responders. Those sites should be operational some time next week. The department is also working to set up testing sites for the state police, members of the Georgia National Guard and other agencies who’ve responded to protests, Toomey said.
Kemp also encouraged protesters to get tested for the novel coronavirus immediately.
“We want to make sure the pandemic doesn’t spread because of this,” Toomey said.
Protests have been held throughout Georgia cities this week, including events in Macon and Columbus. People in Atlanta have held demonstrations since Friday following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis last week.
Derek Chauvin, the fired Minnesota police officer seen in a video kneeling on the back of Floyd’s neck as Floyd said he couldn’t breathe, is expected to have the charges against him elevated to second-degree murder. Three other officers at the scene who’ve since been fired will also be charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder, multiple law enforcement sources told the Star Tribune in Minneapolis Wednesday.
A curfew for the city of Atlanta remains in effect, and nearly 300 protesters there were arrested between Friday night and Sunday night, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
Calling Atlanta “the cradle of the Civil Rights Movement,” Kemp said he supported the right to peaceful protest. However, Kemp said that what started as a peaceful demonstration in Atlanta Friday ended in “violence and destruction” due to “some with a different agenda.”
“If those people who are unruly out there think we will lay down, and we will quit,” he said, “you are in the wrong state.”
Questions about updated DPH website
Georgia debuted its new COVID-19 webpage Tuesday afternoon less than an hour before the press conference. As of 3:34 p.m., the Georgia Department of Public Health reported 48,207 COVID-19 cases and 2,102 deaths.
However, the number of positive tests listed on a chart below and the number of confirmed cases at the top of the website did not match. Positive viral tests, which determine if a person is currently infected, make up the total number of confirmed cases in the state. Positive antibody tests, which show likely past infections, are not counted as a confirmed case.
The state health department lists only 43,178 positive viral tests — a difference of 5,029 cases.
When asked during the press conference about the discrepancies, Toomey told a reporter that she hadn’t looked at the new website.
“I’ll have to look,” she said. “You beat me to the website. I was preparing for the press conference.”
Nancy Nydam, a spokesperson for the Georgia Department of Public Health, said the 5,029 positive tests were not submitted through the state’s electronic lab reporting system. Instead, those positives were submitted by other means such as case reports or faxes. Differences between the number of confirmed cases and positive viral tests are caused by these reporting differences.
“We are working with the smaller labs and hospitals not using ELR to report test results, but they’re not all there yet,” Nydam said.
Georgia’s COVID-19 numbers as of June 2
- Cases: 48,207 (+308 from 7 p.m. Monday). From Sunday evening to Monday evening, Georgia reported 836 cases, the most since May 21, according to raw data analyzed by McClatchy.
- Deaths: 2,102 (+13 from 7 p.m. Monday)
Current hospitalizations: 828 (-13 from Monday). These numbers don’t include people being investigated by health officials for possible COVID-19 infections.
Tests: 565,612 total tests. 474,287 are viral and 91,325 are for antibodies. These totals do not account for tests that are not reported through the state’s electronic lab reporting system.
Bibb County has 472 confirmed cases, an increase of 5 cases since Monday night. Muscogee County has 637 confirmed cases, an increase of 5 cases since Monday night.
Cases per person: Echols (3048.63), Randolph (2650.28), Terrell (2515.65), Early (2404.89) and Hancock (2404.49) counties have the highest number of coronavirus cases per person in the state.
This story was originally published June 2, 2020 at 6:35 PM.