Muscogee County’s COVID case rate is climbing during delta surge. Here are latest trends
COVID-19 cases across Georgia and in the Columbus area continue rising, but state and local leaders aren’t looking to implement restrictions similar to those seen earlier in the pandemic.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed an executive order Thursday allowing private businesses to opt out of COVID-19 ordinances passed by local governments. Organizations can continue following an ordinance if they so choose, but law enforcement and governments cannot punish any business for opting out.
When reached Friday, Columbus Mayor Skip Henderson said he has no plan to implement a mask mandate, despite more than 1,000 new COVID cases being reported in Muscogee County over the past two weeks.
The Columbus Consolidated Government requires masks in government buildings, Henderson said, and he strongly encourages local businesses to implement a similar policy.
The city will continue working to give residents accurate information about COVID-19 and vaccines, he said.
Columbus’ two hospitals, Piedmont Columbus Regional and St. Francis-Emory Healthcare, have declined to share information about how many COVID patients they’re treating and their vaccination status.
Here is the latest data on COVID-19 trends.
Muscogee County
Muscogee County reported 1,192 new COVID-19 cases within the last two weeks, as of Thursday.
There were 622 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people in the same time period, up from the two-week case rate of 465 cases per 100,000 that was reported one week ago.
There were three COVID-related deaths in the county during the past week. Since the start of the pandemic, Muscogee County has reported 16,925 coronavirus cases and 446 deaths.
Over the last week, 3,161 new viral tests were reported, and Muscogee County’s test positivity rate for the past two weeks is 25.8%. Since the start of the pandemic, 12% of Muscogee County’s tests have been positive.
According to the data from DPH, young adults ages 18-29 account for 3,973 (about 23.5%) of the county’s cases since the pandemic began; that is the largest portion. In the last two weeks, 131 kids ages 5-17 have tested positive for COVID-19 in Muscogee County. Female residents account for 9,510 (56.2%) of the county’s cases.
People in Muscogee County ages 60-69 make up the largest portion of those hospitalized with COVID-19 at 316 hospitalizations. Black residents account for 761 of Muscogee County’s 1,375 hospitalizations.
Russell and Lee counties in Alabama
Thursday, Russell County reported a rate of 159 COVID cases per 100,000 people in the past week, and 244 new total cases in the last two weeks, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health.
Of the 331 COVID tests performed in the last week in Russell County, 93 (28%) were positive. There have 51 COVID deaths in the county since the start of the pandemic.
Alabama’s health department has classified Russell County as having a high level of community transmission. Around 24% of residents in the county have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, and 18% are fully vaccinated.
Lee County reported a one week case rate of 374 cases per 100,000 people and a total of 1,231 new cases in the last two weeks.
Over the past week, the county reported 382 of the 1,615 COVID tests were positive (about 24%). There have been 191 COVID deaths in the county since the pandemic began.
42.4% of Lee County residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine, and about 35% are fully vaccinated.
Georgia update
Total cases: 1,012,809 (+35,539 reported since Aug. 13). The number of new cases reported in a day may not match the difference in total cases over a 24-hour period. This occurs because previously reported cases may be removed as duplicate reports are corrected. An older confirmed case may also be reclassified as additional information is collected during an investigation.
Variant of Concern: 74.6% of COVID-19 cases in Georgia are estimated to be caused by the delta variant, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Total deaths: 19,131 (+194 deaths since Aug. 13). 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.
Positivity rate for Georgia today: 17%. The rate over the past two weeks is 16% positive in the last two weeks.
Current COVID hospitalizations: 203 hospitalizations reported on Aug. 20
More information about COVID-19 data in Georgia can be found on DPH’s COVID-19 status website.
