NE Health District Adds Most COVID Cases Since Sept. 16

The Northeast Health District added 148 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, the largest number added in a single day since Sept. 16, and the seven-day rolling average of added cases is the highest it has been since Sept. 22. That rolling average has increased each of the last five days.

The regional trend mirrors that of the state, where the 1,824 new cases added on Thursday is the highest since Sept. 20, and the seven-day rolling average of added cases is the highest since Sept. 26. That rolling average has increased in each of the last three days.

The Northeast Health District did not add any new deaths with the release of the Department of Public Health Daily Status Report on Thursday, the second day in a row that the Report listed no new deaths in the region.

The rolling average of added deaths in the Northeast Health District dropped to 1.3 on Thursday from 1.4 on Wednesday. Across the state, the Daily Status Report listed 27 new deaths from the corona virus, and the seven-day rolling average of added deaths increased to 34.4 from 33.9 on Wednesday.

The Department of Community Health reported one new death in the Northeast Health District in its Thursday Long-Term Care Facility Report. The death was at Heardmont Health and Rehabilitation nursing home in Elbert County.

The Department of Public Health distributes the Department of Community Health report but does not include deaths from the Department of Community Health report in the Daily Status Report.

Every county in the 10-county Northeast Health District added at least three cases. Oconee County added five and Clarke County added 28. The seven-day rolling average of added cases in Oconee County increased slightly on Thursday and decreased in Clarke County.

The seven-day rolling average of added cases in the Northeast Health District increased from 89.0 on Wednesday to 96.0 on Thursday.

The Department of Community Health reported four additional cases of COVID-19 among staff at long-term care facilities in the Northeast Health District. All four were at The Gardens of Social Circle II personal care home in Walton County.

Area hospitals have not yet felt the pressure of the increased number of COVID-19 cases.

The Georgia Hospital Association (GHA) and the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) reported on Thursday that the number of COVID-19 patients at area hospitals (50) increased by one from the day before, that the number of ICU beds in use (62) decreased by two from the day before, and that the number of adult ventilators in use (31) increased by three from the day before.

For more on this story, please click through to Oconee County Observations.

Thanks.

Lee