NE Health District Adds 5 COVID-19 Deaths, Including 1 In Oconee

Following the pattern of the state as a whole, the Northeast Health District on Wednesday saw large increases in both the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases and in deaths attributed to the disease.

The 10-county region added 133 new confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Department of Public Health Daily Status Report, including 38 in Clarke County and five in Oconee County.

The seven-day rolling average of added cases for the District increased from 102.4 on Tuesday to 110.6 on Wednesday.

The district added five new deaths attributed to COVID-19, including one in Oconee County. Oconee County now has 14 deaths attributed to the disease, while the much larger Clarke County, with four times the number of COVID-19 cases, has 15.

The Oconee County death was of an 87-year-old female with a chronic condition.

Barrow County reported the death of an 83-year-old female with a chronic condition, and Walton County reported the deaths of an 85-year-old male without a known chronic condition and of two females, both labeled as 90 plus in age, one with a chronic condition and the other without.

Eight deaths listed in the Department of Community Health Long-Term Care Facility Report in Jackson County still have not been included in the Department of Public Health Daily Status Report.

The seven-day rolling average of added deaths in the 10-county Northeast Health District, based on the Daily Status Report only, increased to 1.9 on Wednesday from 1.3 on Tuesday.

The Department of Community Health listed three additional cases of COVID-19 Positive Staff among the area’s 27 long-term care facilities with resident and/or staff cases in its Wednesday report.

The Georgia Emergency Management Agency reported in its Situation Report COVID-19 on Wednesday that seven Critical Care Beds were available at area hospitals, the same number as the day before.

Athens-Clarke County Commissioner Russell Edwards reported Wednesday evening that sources at both St. Mary’s and Piedmont Athens Regional had told him as of 2:35 p.m. on Wednesday that admissions were being diverted at both hospitals because emergency room, critical care and general hospital beds were at capacity at that time.

For a report on state data and for charts summarizing both state and local data, please go to Oconee County Observations.