Oconee County Publishes Coronavirus Update For April 27

Press release from the Oconee County Government:

April 27, 2020

Thank you for continuing to protect yourself and others by following CDC recommendations and practicing social distancing to prevent COVID-19 transmission. The Georgia Department of Public Health COVID-19 Daily Status Report https://dph.georgia.gov/covid-19-daily-status-report lists 56 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Oconee County as of noon on April 27.

On Sunday, April 26, Chairman John Daniell participated in a conference call with area healthcare providers and hospitals. Below is a joint statement that was issued following the conference call on April 26:

We just completed another conference call update with local healthcare providers and want to relay to the community the latest updates.

Overall, our numbers remain stable, and we continue to see a decline in ICU and hospitalized patients. Patient intake is not as volatile - another positive step.

In terms of PPE and supplies, our providers report they are in a positive position and have the necessary supplies at this time. Testing continues to ramp up significantly. However, with some providers, we continue to have issues with a lag in reporting times, so we must continue to focus on that. Importantly, we are now testing patients with any symptoms and many healthcare workers and other first responders without symptoms - a huge step forward.

We want to specifically highlight the work of the UGA/AU Mobile Clinic - they are doing great work in our community and providing testing in underserved areas. The Mobile Clinic hotline is 706-308-4092, and they are working to cover areas of the community where there are potential cases - particularly in underserved communities.

Our healthcare providers will gradually begin to resume elective operations. Many of these operations are critical that have been delayed for weeks, and it’s important that these patients now be able to be seen. The hospitals are taking strict measures to ensure the health and safety of all patients.

Finally, we want to reemphasize the important of continuing to use common sense. There’s no doubt what we’ve done has made a difference. We must continue to be smart - wear a mask when in public, avoid gatherings, wash your hands, cover coughs and continue to social distance.

Much progress has been made. Together, we’ll continue to win this fight and move our community forward.

Mayor Kelly Girtz
Mayor Dodd Ferrelle
Chairman John Daniell
Senator Bill Cowsert
Senator Frank Ginn
Representative Spencer Frye
Representative Houston Gaines
Representative Marcus Wiedower

This press release was produced by the Oconee County Government. The views expressed here are the author’s own.