2,900 people in Georgia could die of coronavirus by early August, projections show
Georgia hasn’t seen the worst of the coronavirus pandemic, and the virus is on track to kill thousands more across the state by late summer, projections show.
With its new forecasting model, the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation is predicting how Georgians will get along as the virus continues to spread nationally. The institute also pools data from government agencies to predict how the Peach State will manage amid a lack of essential medical resources like hospital beds and ventilators.
According to Wednesday’s model, more than 2,900 people are expected to die in Georgia by Aug. 4 as a result of the virus. Cases of the highly contagious disease aren’t expected to peak until around April 25, at which point officials could see as many as 98 deaths per day.
Officials in Georgia, like many other states, have struggled to get the outbreak under control as new cases continue to be reported. At a Wednesday afternoon press conference, Gov. Brian Kemp announced his plans to sign a state-wide stay-at-home order in an effort to slow the spread of the illness.
Kemp, who will also sign a second order directing all public schools to close for the remainder of the year, had previously advised only those considered “medically fragile” to stay indoors, if possible. The governor faced pressure from critics who called for stricter, more aggressive action on his part, arguing not enough was being done to protect Georgians.
“As contagious as this virus is … we’re [not] going to be able to stem the tide of it without taking more drastic measures,” Atlanta City Council President Felicia Moore told local station WSB-TV last week.
The new state-wide order will go into effect Friday, April 3 and last through April 13, Kemp told reporters Wednesday.
The governor also cited the latest number of COVID-19 cases in the state, which, by late afternoon, had reached nearly 4,700 with 139 reported deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. Moreover, Kemp warned that the state’s hospitals will likely hit capacity by mid-April.
The IHME projected model showed a similar reality, with Georgia hospitals in need of over 9,000 hospital beds by April 23. The projected need for ventilators could peak a few days earlier on April 20, according to the forecast model.
This story was originally published April 1, 2020 at 6:48 PM.