Georgia reports largest daily increase in coronavirus deaths since late May
The Georgia Department of Public Health reported nearly 149,000 cumulative COVID-19 cases Tuesday, up by more than 3,400 cases in 24 hours.
Here are some key takeaways from the latest data:
Cases: 148,988 (+3,413 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: 3,254 (+78 deaths in 24 hours). That’s the largest single-day increase in deaths since 78 deaths were reported on May 21. The state reported 77 deaths on June 9. 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.
Nancy Nydam, spokesperson for the Georgia Department of Public Health, said Tuesday’s increase in deaths is partly influenced by delays in reporting. But lags in reporting don’t account for all of the increase.
“It’s two-fold,” she said in an email. “Yes, some of those are because of very low reporting over the weekend and some older ones. However, we’ve seen increased cases and hospitalizations (more serious illness) over the past few weeks so that is leading to increases in deaths.”
Tests: Georgia reported 203,234 total antibody tests and 1,295,291 total viral tests (+21,510 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: 3,155. That’s a decrease of 28 patients in 24 hours. This is the first decrease reported since mid-June. 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: 15,494, an increase of 447 in 24 hours.
Hospital capacity: As of Tuesday, 87% 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 includes Muscogee and other Columbus area counties, has 10 critical care beds left.
Cases per 100,000: Echols (5,316.2), Chattahoochee (4,688.81), Stewart (3,817.91), Randolph (3,375.78) and Early (3,311.65) 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 Tuesday:
▪ Bibb County reported 2,328 cases, up 80 cases in 24 hours. The county reported 44 confirmed coronavirus-related deaths. No new deaths were reported.
▪ Muscogee County reported 3,520 COVID-19 cases, an increase of 85 in 24 hours. The county reported 67 coronavirus-related deaths. Three new deaths were reported.
▪ Gwinnett County reports the highest number of cases in the state at 13,878.
Georgia announces new testing partner
Gov. Brian Kemp and the Georgia Department of Public Health on Monday announced a new testing partnership with North Carolina-based Mako Medical to provide coronavirus testing and lab services to collect and process 10,000 samples per day. Test results will be provided in 48 hours, on average.
Last week, both Kemp and and state health commissioner Kathleen Toomey said that current delays in coronavirus testing results were unacceptable.
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.
“Georgia has dramatically expanded testing since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Kemp said in a statement. “As demand for testing has soared across the country, many private labs have been unable to process tests quick enough to aid in contact tracing and mitigation efforts. ...This new partnership will not only expand the number of tests the state is able to administer but also greatly reduce the turnaround time of those tests. This is vital to Georgia’s efforts in our fight against COVID-19.”
This story was originally published July 21, 2020 at 4:08 PM.