GA Coronavirus: 24 New Deaths, Over 1,000 Hospitalized

GEORGIA — The latest statewide tally of new coronavirus cases showed a significant increase as of noon Thursday with 24 more deaths caused by the virus in Georgia, the Georgia Department of Public Health said. The updated numbers reflect an increase of more than 700 cases from noon on Wednesday, bringing the total to 5,348 coronavirus cases, and 24 additional deaths, for a total of 163. There are currently 1,056 people hospitalized from coronavirus.

As coronavirus cases climbed, Gov. Brian Kemp ordered a statewide shelter-in-place order to go into effect beginning Friday. He also moved the remainder of this school semester for K-12 public schools to digital learning.

"The CDC announced that those who are infected with coronavirus could begin spreading it earlier than thought, even with no symptoms. New models show Georgia will need more time to prepare for a hospital surge capacity," Kemp said.

The statewide shelter-in-place order will be in place from Friday through April 13. This date is in line with the state's public health emergency order. While Kemp didn't give specifics, in other states and Fulton County similar orders mean gatherings are banned, residents should only shop for essential goods, and outdoor exercise should be done while maintaining a safe social distance.

"Today's significant increase in cases is in part due to additional laboratories reporting to Department of Public Health, and also improvements in electronic reporting from other laboratories," the department said on the report. "Patient information is often incomplete and Department of Public Health works to complete the records, so data will change over time."

As of Thursday afternoon, Fulton County's 712 cases are the most of any Georgia locality. The next highest totals are 507 in Dougherty County, DeKalb with 396 cases, Cobb with 329 cases, Gwinnett with 282 cases, Bartow with 147 cases, Carroll with 133 cases and Clayton with 148 cases.

Of those counties, Dougherty has the most deaths in the state with 29. Fulton has had 22 deaths, Cobb had 17, Lee and Clarke both have had seven. Gwinnett and DeKalb had six. Bartow, Cherokee and Fayette, each had four. Houston and Clayton had five, and Henry, Coweta, Terrell, Rockdale, Floyd, Chatham, and Barrow each had two deaths. Douglas and Sumter had three.

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The Georgia Department of Public Health is now including details of the deaths.

The oldest person to die in Georgia from coronavirus was a 95-year-old man from Baker County. It is unknown if he had underlying medical conditions, the report shows.

The youngest person was a 29-year-old woman from Peach County. It is also unknown if she had underlying health conditions.

Of Georgia's coronavirus cases, 59 percent are between ages 18 and 59, while those above the age of 60 make up 36 percent. People up to age 17 represent 1 percent of cases, and the remaining percentage of cases have unknown ages.

Commercial laboratories have conducted 20756 tests, and 4980 came back positive for COVID-19. Among the Georgia Department of Health's 2201 completed tests, 368 came back positive.

Kemp's office has not released specifics on what new restrictions will be added by the shelter-in-place order.

In other states, a shelter-in-place order typically means residents can only leave their home for essential tasks, such as to buy food and pharmaceuticals. Residents can participate in individual exercise, such as taking a walk, but should stay at least six feet apart from anyone they encounter.

More than 962,000 COVID-19 cases are confirmed worldwide and more than 49,000 people have died, Johns Hopkins reported Thursday. The U.S. has over 216,000 cases, the most of any country as of Thursday.

President Donald Trump declared Sunday that a major disaster exists in Georgia. With it, he ordered federal assistance to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the areas affected by the coronavirus pandemic beginning on Jan. 20, and continuing.

The White House said in a press release that "federal funding is available to state and eligible local governments, and certain private nonprofit organizations for emergency protective measures, including direct federal assistance, for all areas in the state of Georgia impacted by coronavirus."
Additional designations may be made at a later date if requested by the state and warranted by the results of further assessments.

See more:

• GA Coronavirus: Shelter-In-Place Order, School Year Finished
• Some GA Inmates Will Be Released Early Due To The Coronavirus
• Coronavirus In Georgia: What To Do If You Have Symptoms
• GA University Labs Aim To Complete 3K Coronavirus Tests Daily
• GA Healthcare Workers Fly To New York To Help: Coronavirus