Coronavirus in Columbus: St. Francis-Emory urges community to wear masks, plus more news
We’re tracking the most up-to-date information and numbers regarding the coronavirus in the Chattahoochee Valley.
Georgia’s coronavirus case totals update each day at 3 p.m.
Here are the updated COVID-19 numbers for our area:
GEORGIA
Muscogee County and its surrounding areas reported a total of 11,259 cases in the 3 p.m. Wednesday update from the Georgia Department of Public Health.
327 total deaths were reported in the area.
Here’s a breakdown by county of total cases, deaths and hospitalizations:
- Muscogee: 4595, 94, 481
Troup: 2257, 69, 260
- Sumter: 749, 56, 174
Chattahoochee: 736, 1, 10
Harris: 645, 16, 71
- Crisp: 371, 14, 56
Meriwether: 379, 6, 47
Randolph: 268, 26, 41
Stewart: 255, 6, 51
- Dooly: 248, 14, 47
Macon: 177, 10, 39
Marion: 147, 4, 15
Talbot: 134, 3, 19
- Clay: 86, 2, 6
- Taylor: 81, 2, 14
Schley: 63, 1, 8
Webster: 39, 2, 8
- Quitman: 29, 1, 6
A full county-by-county breakdown from the Georgia Department of Public Health can be found here.
Georgia’s West-Central Health District covers 16 counties: Chattahoochee, Clay, Crisp, Dooly, Harris, Macon, Marion, Muscogee, Quitman, Randolph, Schley, Stewart, Sumter, Talbot, Taylor and Webster.
Troup and Meriwether counties are not in the West-Central Health District but because of their proximity to Columbus, the Ledger-Enquirer will track those numbers as well.
ALABAMA
The number of novel coronavirus cases in Alabama has now reached 94,827 according to the Alabama Department of Public Health’s dashboard at 4:30 p.m. EST Friday.
The number of reported cases in Lee County stands at 2,628 while Russell County’s total stands at 1,342.
There have been 745,942 tests performed statewide. The state reported 1,674 total COVID-19-related deaths as of Monday.
The state of Alabama reports the number of presumed recoveries from COVID-19 on a weekly basis. On Aug. 5, the state reported 37,923 presumed recoveries throughout Alabama.
To view the full list of Alabama COVID-19 cases, click here.
St. Francis urges community to wear masks
St. Francis is urging the community to wear face masks or cloth face coverings in public areas where social distancing is not possible to help fight the spread of COVID-19.
“St. Francis strongly encourages our community members to wear masks because each of us plays an important role in helping to keep our community safe and protect one another from the spread of infectious diseases,” Joel Fine, chief of staff at St. Francis said in a release. “One of the easiest and most effective ways we can look out for each other and aid in the fight against COVID-19 is to wear a face mask in public spaces right now.”
Columbus parents facing COVID-19 childcare dilemma have new options for online classes
Because local COVID-19 cases have surged, the Muscogee County School District changed its plan and will open its fall 2020 semester with online-only classes from Aug. 17 through at least Sept. 9.
Among the 169 parents or guardians who responded to MCSD’s survey in June, 20% said they didn’t have access to resources and teachers to help their children succeed with remote learning. A similar survey of students, with 167 responses, said 19% don’t have such access.
Parents facing a childcare dilemma have new options.
Local Alabama high school sports teams reported over 20 COVID-19 cases since June
Local Alabama High School Athletics Association sports teams reported two dozen positive COVID-19 cases since high school sports practices were allowed to begin in the state in early June.
The AHSAA does not track positive cases like the Georgia High School Association does, nor does it ask schools to report positive cases to the state’s high school sports governing body. The school districts of Russell County, Phenix City and Lee County provided COVID-19 case counts to the Ledger-Enquirer.
Stewart County cancels fall sports due to COVID-19
Stewart County High School, about 40 miles south of Columbus, has canceled fall sports for the upcoming school year due to COVID-19 concerns.
The Knights are the third Class 1A school to cancel fall sports: Riverside Military Academy and Twiggs County canceled fall sports in May and July, respectively.
