Area Adds 377 COVID Cases, Five Deaths; Oconee School Cases Up

The Northeast Health District added 377 COVID-19 cases and five deaths from the disease on Friday with the release of the Department of Public Health Daily Status Report, increasing the seven-day rolling averages of added cases and deaths.

One of the deaths listed in the Daily Status Report was of a 76-year-old Clarke County male without a chronic condition. The death brings to 57 the number in the county attributed to COVID-19.

The other deaths were of a 66-year-old male in Jackson County without a chronic condition, of a 56-year-old female in Walton County without a chronic condition, of an 88-year-old female in Walton County with a chronic condition, and of an 88-year-old female in Walton County without a chronic condition.

The total number of deaths in the Northeast Health District from the disease now stands at 370, and the seven-day rolling average of added confirmed deaths from the corona virus was 1.7 on Friday, up from 1.3 on Thursday.

The Daily Status Reported listed 309 confirmed cases based on molecular tests and 68 based on antigen tests.

The seven-day rolling averages of added cases from both the molecular and antigen tests increased, and the seven-day average of added cases, combining those from molecular and antigen tests, increased to 306.4 on Friday from 303.4 on Thursday.

Oconee County added 16 cases based on molecular tests and four based on antigen tests, while Clarke County added 86 cases based on molecular tests and six based on antigen tests. The seven-day rolling average of combined results of the two tests increased from 16.1 to 17.7 in Oconee County and from 64.3 to 66.0 in Clarke County.

Oconee County Schools reported 15 Active COVID-19 Cases and 149 Active Quarantines Due to Close Contact in its COVID-19 Status Report for Friday. The number of Active Cases had been 13 a week earlier, and the number of Active Quarantines had been 29.

The number of Active Cases and the number of Active Quarantines are the most reported in any weekly summary since the school system began reporting cases on Aug. 14 when the school year began.

The Georgia Hospital Association (GHA) and the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) reported on Friday that the number of COVID-19 patients at area hospitals (144) increased by four from the day before, that the number of ICU beds in use (68) increased by two from the day before, and that the number of adult ventilators in use (30) decreased by one from the day before.

This is only a summary of the locally reported data on COVID-19. For more detail and for state data, please go to Oconee County Observations.