Northeast Health District Adds Four COVID-19 Deaths, 140 Cases

The Department of Public Health listed four additional deaths from COVID-19 in the Northeast Health District with release of the Daily Status Report on Wednesday as well as 113 confirmed cases of the disease based on molecular tests and 27 cases based on rapid antigen tests.

The four deaths listed in the Wednesday Daily Status Report were of a 90-plus-year-old female in Clarke County without a chronic condition, of an 81-year-old male in Elbert County without a chronic condition, of a 77-year-old female in Jackson County with a chronic condition, and of a 90-plus-year-old male in Morgan County without a chronic condition.

The four deaths listed in the Department of Public Health Daily Status Report on Wednesday bring to 337 the number of deaths in the Northeast Health District from the disease and resulted in an increase in the seven-day rolling average of deaths to 1.4 from 1.1 on Tuesday.

The 113 confirmed COVID-19 cases based on molecular tests resulted in an increase in the seven-day rolling average of added cases to 111.3 on Wednesday from 107.7 on Tuesday.

Every county in the 10-county Northeast Health District except Greene County added cases, with Oconee County adding five and Clarke County adding 39. In both counties, the seven-day rolling average of added cases increased on Wednesday from Tuesday.

The 27 cases based on positive antigen tests resulted in a decrease in the seven-day rolling average of added antigen cases from 27.4 on Tuesday to 26.3 on Wednesday. Clarke County added four antigen-positive cases, and Oconee County did not add any.

The University of Georgia reported a drop in local COVID-19 Positive Tests in its COVID-19 Health and Exposure Update on Wednesday.

For the week ending on Nov. 15, the university reported 47 local positive tests, down from 67 a week ago, and 31 tests not from Athens-Clarke County, down from 34 a week earlier.

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 (86) was unchanged from the day before, that the number of ICU beds in use (59) decreased by six from the day before, and that the number of adult ventilators in use (28) increased by one from the day before.

The Department of Community Health, in Wednesday’s Long-Term Care Facility Report, listed three new cases of COVID-10 among residents of the 38 nursing and personal care homes in the Northeast Health District covered by the report and three new cases of the disease among the staff of these facilities.

For a fuller version of this story, with more local reporting and state data, please go to Oconee County Observations.