Muscogee County saw 13 COVID-19 deaths in the last week. Here’s the latest trends
Thirteen people in Muscogee County have reportedly died from COVID-19 since Sept. 10 as local health department officials continue to urge residents to get vaccinated.
Since the last week of August, the two-week case rate in Muscogee County has remained in the 600-690 per 100,000 people range, according to data from the Georgia Department of Public Health.
While the county hasn’t yet seen significant decreases in the two-week case rate, the Columbus health department hopes this recent plateau could be a good sign, Pam Kirkland, spokesperson for the West Central Health District, said in an email to the Ledger-Enquirer.
“With more people getting vaccinated, perhaps the number of protected residents is helping to reduce the number of cases,” Kirkland said.
But health officials want to see an increase in the local vaccination rate, she said.
Around 42%, or 81,840, of Muscogee County’s residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine, and 36%, or 71,286 residents, are fully vaccinated.
“I hope people remember to continue to keep themselves safe (by) following all the precautions we have been telling everyone since this began,” Kirkland said. “I know folks are tired of hearing it, but we have to stay the course.”
Here are the latest COVID-19 trends in Muscogee and Harris counties, according to DPH data.
Muscogee County
As of Sept. 16, Muscogee County’s 7-day moving average of reported COVID-19 deaths was 1.9, the highest it’s been since March 17, when the 7-day moving average was 2. There have been 479 deaths from COVID-19 in Muscogee County since the start of the pandemic.
The 7-day moving average is calculated by taking the number of deaths each day in the past week, adding them, and then dividing by seven. These are the number of deaths in the past seven days for Muscogee County:
Sept. 10: 5 deaths
Sept. 11: 4 deaths
Sept. 12: 0 deaths
Sept. 13: 0 deaths
Sept. 14: 1 death
Sept. 15: 0 deaths
Sept. 16: 3 deaths
Muscogee County reported a two-week case rate of 637 cases per 100,000 people as of Sept. 16. There were 1,221 coronavirus cases reported in the county in the last two weeks. This is slightly lower than the number reported last week on Sept. 9, when there were 1,257 cases reported in a two-week period.
Over the last week, 3,735 new viral tests were reported, and Muscogee County’s test positivity rate for the past two weeks is 19.3%.
Women are continuing to outpace men in the county in getting vaccinated, with 46% of female residents receiving one dose of the vaccine as opposed to 36% of men.
Asian residents are the most vaccinated racial demographic with 60.5% of the population having received at least one dose of the vaccine. Comparatively, 38.5% of white residents and 36.5% of Black residents have received at least one dose.
Muscogee County residents between the ages of 65 and 74 are the most vaccinated age group, with 97.1% having been vaccinated.
Harris County
Harris County reported 458 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people on Sept. 16. This number has slightly dropped from the start of the month with 556 cases per 100,000 people being reported on Sept. 1.
As of Sept. 16, Harris County reported 159 new cases and two deaths in the past two weeks. The county has reported 2,925 cases and 68 deaths since the pandemic began.
Among Harris County residents, 46% have received at least one dose of the vaccine and 40% are fully vaccinated.
There were 442 new viral tests reported in the last week, and Harris County’s test positivity rate for the past two weeks is 20.9%. Since the start of the pandemic, 13.4% of tests performed in the county have been positive.
Georgia update
Total cases: 1,177,656 (+33,021 reported since Sept. 10). 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: 97.4% of COVID-19 cases in Georgia are estimated to be caused by the delta variant, according to the CDC.
Vaccination Rate: 53% of Georgians have received at least one dose, while 46% are fully vaccinated.
Total deaths: 21,143 (+693 deaths since Sept. 10). 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: 11.3%. The rate over the past two weeks is 15.4% positive.
Current COVID hospitalizations: 249 hospitalizations reported on Sept. 9.
More information about COVID-19 data in Georgia can be found on DPH’s COVID-19 status website.
This story was originally published September 17, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
