Kemp: GA Has Low Ventilator Use, Hospitalizations; Cases Increase

GEORGIA — Gov. Brian Kemp said since Saturday, Georgia continues to see new lows in the numbers of people on ventilators and hospitalized. As of Monday morning, there are 881 ventilators in use, and 1,134 hospitalizations related to coronavirus, Kemp said.

The Georgia Department of Public Health reported 33,927 total confirmed cases of the new coronavirus, or COVID-19, as of Monday afternoon, an increase of 1,304 positive cases from Sunday afternoon. The number of deaths related to COVID-19 increased by 37 Monday over the previous day's count, according to the health department.

The Department of Public Health has a chart on its website that presents the number of newly confirmed COVID-19 cases over time. This chart is meant to aid understanding whether the outbreak is growing, leveling off, or declining and can help to guide the COVID-19 response.

However, the department warns that the "data during the reporting period may be incomplete due to the lag in time between when the case was tested and/or reported and submitted to the Georgia DPH for reporting purposes. This delay can vary depending on the testing facility and/or jurisdiction."

On Monday, Fulton County reported 3,516 positive cases of the coronavirus and 145 deaths. DeKalb County reported 2,544 positive cases and 71 deaths; followed by 2,457 positive cases and 92 deaths in Gwinnett County; 2,176 positive cases and 118 deaths in Cobb County; 2,026 positive cases and 29 deaths in Hall County; and 1,597 positive cases and 128 deaths in Dougherty County, according to the state health department.

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On Saturday, Kemp announced that Georgia has its lowest number of patients hospitalized with the coronavirus since the state's hospitals began reporting data on April 8. He said there were 1,203 positive patients in hospitals. Additionally, Saturday marked the lowest number of ventilators in use — 897 of the 1,945 available ventilators.

Kemp said Saturday that the state is also making progress in its testing capabilities due to its partnerships with Augusta University through the AU Health ExpressCare app. He said the state has doubled its daily testing capacity. As of Monday afternoon, the state health department reported 251,288 tests had been conducted in the state.

Globally, more than 4 million cases of coronavirus have been confirmed, with 1.3 million in the United States, according to the Johns Hopkins coronavirus tracker. More than 284,000 people have died globally, with 79,000 in the United States.

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