Health & Fitness

GA Coronavirus Update: State May Have Already Reached Peak Deaths

The state may have already reached its peak daily deaths, models suggest, as Georgia surpasses 17,500 people testing positive for the virus.

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GEORGIA — The state may have already reached its peak daily deaths, models suggest, as Georgia surpasses 17,500 people testing positive for coronavirus, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health.

As of Saturday at noon, there have been 673 deaths, 17,669 cases, and 3,420 hospitalizations in Georgia. Deaths make up 3.81 percent of Georgia cases. From the numbers released at noon on Friday, this is an increase of 475 cases, 96 hospitalizations and 23 deaths.

According to projection data updated Friday released by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), Georgia is 11 days past its peak in daily deaths. The IHME model projected April 7, a day that saw 100 deaths, as the peak for the state. The organization uses overall trends to identify the peak date, rather than the single highest reporter number.

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The current data from this model also suggests it may be possible to relax social distancing protocol – while still maintaining containment strategies such as testing, contract tracing, isolation and limiting gathering size – after June 15.

Fulton County still has recorded the most coronavirus cases thus far, with 2,054 cases and 74 deaths. Dougherty County in southwest Georgia, where Albany is the site of the state's worst hotspot, is second with 1,406 cases but has recorded the most deaths with 91, more than any other Georgia county.

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The other counties in the top 10 include DeKalb, with 1,396 cases and 24 deaths; Cobb, with 1,100 cases and 51 deaths; Gwinnett, with 1,050 cases and 36 deaths; Hall, with 607 cases and six deaths; Clayton, with 505 cases and 17 deaths; Henry, with 353 cases and seven deaths; Sumter, with 311 cases and 14 deaths; and Lee, with 272 cases and 15 deaths. Glascock and Taliaferro are the only counties to report no coronavirus cases.

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The Georgia Department of Public Health Lab has tested 4,853 people for coronavirus, with 949 positive. Commercial laboratories have tested 69,355 people with 16,720 positive.

The Georgia Department of Public Health is increasing the number of specimen collection sites statewide for coronavirus testing, and is revising the current testing criteria to handle more testing of Georgia residents.

Effective immediately, all residents who show signs of the coronavirus will be eligible for testing. Health-care workers, first responders, law enforcement and long-term care facility residents and staff will still be prioritized for testing regardless of whether they are or are not symptomatic.

According to the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine, there have been more than 694,000 confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States and 58,000 of those have already recovered, as of Saturday morning. However, there have also been 33,000 deaths. Worldwide there are more than 2.2 million cases and 156,000 deaths.

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