Over 2,500 new COVID cases reported in Georgia on Sunday; death toll rises above 3,000

The Georgia Department of Public Health reported more than 116,000 cumulative COVID-19 cases Sunday, adding over 2,500 reported new cases.

Here are some key takeaways from the latest data:

• Cases: 116,926 (+2,525 in 24 hours). McClatchy measures new cases by subtracting the total number of infections reported at 3 p.m. from the total number of infections reported the previous day at 3 p.m. This reflects when confirmed cases are reported to the state.
• Deaths: 3,001 (+5 deaths in 24 hours). It’s important to note that these numbers indicate when deaths are reported to the Georgia Department of Public Health. It does not reflect when these deaths occurred.
  
  
• Tests: Georgia reported 183,094 total antibody tests and 1,083,416 total viral tests (+18,543 new viral tests in 24 hours). These totals don’t account for tests that are not reported through the state’s electronic lab reporting system.
  
  
• Current hospitalizations: 2,512 reported on July 12, a new record. That’s an increase of 69 patients in 24 hours. Current hospitalization numbers are reported by Georgia hospitals to the Department of Public Health. The count includes any patient in a Georgia hospital who has tested positive for COVID-19 at the time of the report. This count does not include patients who are being investigated for possible infection by health officials. The Associated Press reported Thursday that 82% of Georgia’s critical care beds are now in use. As of Thursday, some hospital regions in Georgia, like Columbus’ Region I, had fewer than 10 critical care beds available, according to the state’s emergency management agency. Not every patient in a critical care bed has COVID-19.
  
  
• Total COVID-19 hospitalizations as of July 12: 13,259, an increase of 54 in 24 hours.
• Cases per 100,000: Echols (4,963), Chattahoochee (4,307), Stewart (3,507) Randolph (3,138) and Early (3,016) counties have the highest coronavirus rates per 100,000 people in the state.
  
  

The health department is not reporting how many Georgians have recovered.

Even as the testing capacity continues to increase, Georgia is still not meeting testing benchmarks set by health researchers. FiveThirtyEight, a digital news website known for data reporting, reports Georgia conducted an average of 12,278 COVID-19 tests per day in June, 81% short of Harvard Global Health Institute’s goal for the state of 64,048. Only South Carolina, Alabama, Arizona and Mississippi were further from meeting the goal. Goals differ for each state.

For a complete county-by-county list, visit the Georgia Department of Public Health’s website.

Regional update

• Muscogee County reported 2,766 cases, up 68 from Saturday. On Friday, Muscogee reported the largest single-day increase since the start of the pandemic, an increase of 190 in 24 hours. As of July 12, 56 coronavirus-related deaths have been confirmed in Muscogee County.

• In Middle Georgia, Bibb County reported 1,677 cases, up 14 cases in 24 hours. As of July 12, 43 coronavirus-related deaths have been confirmed in Bibb, with one additional death reported in the past 24 hours.
  
  
• Houston County reported 989 COVID-19 cases, an increase of 23 cases in 24-hours. As of July 12, 30 coronavirus-related deaths have been confirmed.
• Gwinnett County reports the highest number of cases in the state at 11,304.

This story was originally published July 12, 2020 at 3:45 PM with the headline "Over 2,500 new COVID cases reported in Georgia on Sunday; death toll rises above 3,000."