NE Health District Adds 123 COVID Cases; UGA Positive Tests Up

The Northeast Health District added 123 COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, 88 of them confirmed via molecular tests and 35 identified with antigen rapid tests, and two deaths from the disease, according to Georgia Department of Public Health data.

The deaths listed by the Department of Public Health in the Daily Status Report were of an 80-year-old female in Greene County without a chronic condition and of a 90-plus-year-old male in Jackson County without a known chronic condition.

With the addition of the two deaths in the Daily Status Report, the seven-day rolling average of added deaths in the Northeast Health District increased to 2.1 from 2.0 on Tuesday.

With the addition of the 88 confirmed cases via molecular tests, the seven-day rolling average of added cases was 89.7 on Wednesday, basically unchanged from the 89.6 on Tuesday.

Every county except Oglethorpe in the District added confirmed cases via the molecular tests, with Oconee County adding four and Clarke County adding 30. The seven-day rolling average of added cases for Oconee County dropped slightly on Wednesday, while it increased for Clarke County.

Oconee County added three Antigen Positive Cases on Wednesday, and Clarke County added seven.

The Department of Public Health began releasing data on antigen test outcomes only last Tuesday. The seven-day rolling average of added Antigen Positive Cases had been 52.6 on Tuesday. With the addition of the 35 cases on Wednesday, that average dropped to 48.9.

The University of Georgia in its COVID-19 Health and Exposure Update on Wednesday reported that the university had 56 local Positive COVID-19 Tests in the week from Nov. 2 to 8, compared with 52 a week earlier.

The positivity rate of the walk-in tests at Legion Field during the week dropped from 1.6 to 1.4. The number of tests increased to 2,194 from 2,108 the previous week.

The Georgia Hospital Association (GHA) and the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) reported on Wednesday that the number of COVID-19 patients at area hospitals (87) increased by 12 from the day before, that the number of ICU beds in use (66) decreased by one from the day before, and that the number of adult ventilators in use (30) increased by one from the day before.

For additional local reporting, for state data, and for charts summarizing local and state data, please go to Oconee County Observations.