GA Tops 2,000 Coronavirus Deaths, Hospital Cases Grow

GEORGIA — Georgia passed the benchmark of 2,000 deaths from the coronavirus as of Saturday, the Georgia Department of Public Health reported. The Centers for Disease Control continues to urge residents to slow the spread of the respiratory virus by wearing a cloth face covering in public spaces, keeping at least 6 feet apart from other and frequently washing your hands.

In the United States a total of 103,153 coronavirus deaths were reported Saturday afternoon, while the worldwide total stood at 366,654 deaths.

At 1 p.m. Saturday, the Georgia Department of Public Health reported 539,641 tests for COVID-19, of which 84,803 are the serology or antibody tests. From those tests, Georgia reports 46,286 cases of COVID-19, an increase of 616 cases from Friday.

So far Georgia has recorded 2003 deaths from the coronavirus, with 7,921 hospitalizations and 1,790 admissions to an intensive-care unit. State figures show 29 coronavirus deaths occurred in the past 24 hours, and hospitalizations increased by 69 patients.

The state this week began distributing 18,440 vials of the antiviral drug remdesivir to nearly 85 hospitals in Georgia, enough to treat about 1,676 patients with COVID-19 infection. Remdesivir is being used to treat hospitalized patients with low oxygen levels or pneumonia. It has been found to shorten the duration of disease in hospital patients.

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Counties in or near metro Atlanta continue to have the highest number of cases, with Fulton County in first with 4,505 confirmed positives. Gwinnett is second with 3,768, DeKalb is third with 3,731, Cobb is fourth with 3,002 and Hall is fifth with 2,467. Today's statistics also identify 1,208 cases of COVID-19 as from "unknown" counties.

More of Georgia's businesses will be able to reopen their doors after Gov. Brian Kemp announced bars, nightclubs and amusement parks can reopen on June 1.

Kemp said the next step moving forward "puts the health and well-being of the citizenry first." His newest executive order extended certain safety precautions, but also eased others.

"Restrictions still remain intact to keep every Georgia business employee's and their customers safe," he said. "For several weeks now, gatherings of 10 or more people in a single location have been banned in Georgia unless there is 6 feet between each person. Given favorable data, we feel comfortable incrementally increasing that number to 25. Starting June 1, you can have gatherings of more than 25 people in a single location if you have at least 6 feet between each person."

On Monday, bars and nightclubs can reopen if they comply with "strict sanitation and social distancing rules all crafted to reflect industry practices and mitigate health risks," Kemp said.

Bars and nightclubs must meet 39 mandatory measures to ensure patron well-being.

Professional and amateur sports teams which hold practices or other in-person operations are also now able to resume in Georgia. The professional teams will have to follow the respective guidelines from the national leagues, Kemp said. All amateur sports that will resume in-person operations must follow the guidelines for non-critical infrastructure organizations.

Related:

• When GA's Bars, Sports Teams, Live Performance Venues Can Resume
• Georgia Records All-Time High Unemployment Rate