Current COVID-19 hospitalizations in Georgia near 3,200. Here are the latest trends
The Georgia Department of Public Health reported nearly 146,000 cumulative COVID-19 cases Monday, up by more than 2,400 cases in 24-hours.
Here are some key takeaways from the latest data:
Cases: 145,575 (+2,452 in 24 hours). McClatchy measures new cases by subtracting the total number of infections reported the previous day at 3 p.m. from the number reported at 3 p.m. on the most recent day. This reflects when confirmed cases are reported to the state.
Deaths: 3,176 (+3 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 202,941 total antibody tests and 1,273,781 total viral tests (+18,462 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: 3,183, a new record. That’s an increase of 147 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.
Total hospitalizations: 15,047, an increase of 37 in 24-hours.
Hospital capacity: As of Monday, 84% of the state’s critical care beds are filled. Not all critical care beds in the state are filled with COVID-19 patients. Some regions have less than 10 critical care beds available. Region I, which Muscogee and other Columbus area counties, has 8 critical care beds left.
Cases per 100,000: Echols (5,265.81), Chattahoochee (4,670.2), Stewart (3,801.6), Randolph (3,301.75) and Early (3213.09) counties have the highest coronavirus rates per 100,000 people in the state.
The health department is not reporting how many Georgians have recovered.
For a complete county-by-county list, visit the Georgia Department of Public Health’s website.
Regional update
As of Monday:
▪ Bibb County reported 2,248 cases, up 47 cases in 24 hours. The county reported 44 confirmed coronavirus-related deaths. No new deaths were reported.
▪ Houston County reported 1,239 cases, up 22 cases in 24 hours. The county reported 33 coronavirus-related deaths. No new deaths were reported.
▪ Muscogee County reported 3,435 COVID-19 cases, an increase of 53 in 24 hours. The county reported 64 coronavirus-related deaths. No new deaths were reported.
▪ Gwinnett County reports the highest number of cases in the state at 13,614.
▪ Non-Georgia residents account for 12,787 of the state’s COVID-19 cases, behind only Gwinnett and Fulton counties. Cases have more than doubled in this particular group since July 6.
Nancy Nydam, a spokesperson for the Georgia Department of Public Health, said the non-Georgia resident group includes people who test positive in Georgia but do not live here. This could include travelers, migrant farmworkers and people who come across state lines for medical care.
“(The category) continues to grow because we continue to get reports from Georgia providers who are seeing patients who are residents of other states,” she said.
Nydam said the state health department isn’t sure what group accounts for the largest portion of non-resident cases, but 220 of those nearly 13,000 cases (about 2%) are migrant farmworkers.
“Most of the migrant farmworkers identified more recently and going forward have been in and/or planned to stay long enough in (Georgia) that they are being included in the case counts for the counties they reside in,” Nydam said.
This story was originally published July 20, 2020 at 3:58 PM.