Health & Fitness
Number of COVID Patients At Area Hospitals Increases
The Department of Community Health reported four deaths at area long-term care homes, three of them in Clarke County.
The Department of Public Health reported 155 confirmed COVID-19 cases based on molecular tests in the Northeast Health District on Tuesday and 177 cases based on antigen tests.
The Department of Public Health did not report any new COVID-19 deaths in the 10-county Northeast Health District, but the Department of Community Health reported four new deaths, three of them at a Clarke County nursing home and the fourth at a personal care home in Walton County.
The Department of Community Health also listed 12 new cases of COVID-19 among residents of the 38 long-term care facilities in the Northeast Health District with the disease among residents and/or staff. All 12 of those new cases were in Clarke County.
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The Department of Community Health also reported five new cases among staff at those 38 homes. All five were in Clarke County.
The Georgia Hospital Association (GHA) and the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) reported on Tuesday that the number of COVID-19 patients at area hospitals (152) increased by two from the day before, that the number of ICU beds in use (64) decreased by one from the day before, and that the number of adult ventilators in use (32) increased by two from the day before.
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Every county in the Northeast Health District added cases based on molecular tests, with Oconee County adding five and Clarke County adding 38. Every county except Greene also added cases based on the rapid antigen test, with Oconee County adding 12 cases and Clarke County adding 22.
The seven-day rolling average of combined cases for Oconee County on Tuesday was 16.9, down from 17.0 on Monday, and the Tuesday figure was 65.9 in Clarke County, up from 64.9 on Monday.
Across the whole District, the seven-day rolling average of added molecular cases dropped from 227.9 on Monday to 225.6 on Tuesday, but the seven-day rolling average of added cases based on the antigen tests increased from 57.1 on Monday to 58.7 on Tuesday.
Combined, the seven-day rolling average of added cases, regardless of test, was 284.3 on Tuesday compared with 285.0 on Monday.
The seven-day rolling average of added deaths–based solely on the Department of Public Health count–held steady at 1.4 on Tuesday.
For more local reporting and for state data, please go to Oconee County Observations.