Rolling Averages Of New COVID Cases Increase; Hospital Beds Drop

The seven-day rolling averages of newly confirmed COVID-19 cases both regionally and for the state as a whole reached record levels with the release of the Department of Public Health Daily Status Report on Friday.

The seven-day rolling average of added deaths also reached a record level for the state, and, with the addition of a death in Barrow County, the seven-day rolling average in the 10-county Northeast Health District also increased, though not to a record level.

For the first time going back to when data were first report on April 17, the number of available critical care beds at area hospitals dropped to zero.

Area governmental leaders issued a statement on Friday afternoon after the Georgia Emergency Management Agency report on hospital beds was released saying “our healthcare providers remain in a stable position and are able to care for our community.

“Both hospitals are able to expand ICU bed capacity as needed,” according to the statement. “Our hospitals have contingency plans in place should they need to be implemented, but to date, they have not had capacity issues.”

The Georgia Emergency Management Agency Report does not specify the time point of collection of data for its Friday Daily Situation Report COVID-19, which includes the hospitalization data.

Area hospitals have a listed capacity of 70 Critical Care Beds, and all are listed as in use in the Friday Report, but the hospitals also have 142 emergency room beds, only 55 of which were reported as in use, and 633 General Inpatient Beds, 542 of which were listed as in use.

For more on this story, with charts summarizing key data, please go to Oconee County Observations.