State Adds Record Number Of COVID Cases, As Cases In Region Grow

The spread of COVID-19 in the state entered entirely new territory on Friday with the Department of Public Health reporting 1,900 new confirmed cases, the highest level ever reported.

The Daily Status Report listed 1,800 new cases on Saturday of last week, the previous high record, and the seven-day rolling average of added cases was 1,569.4 on Friday, the highest rolling average ever.

By way of comparison, the seven-day rolling average on April 13, during the middle of the earlier period of rapid growth, had been only 857.3 cases per day.

The increased number of cases clearly is not the result only of increased testing, as the percent of viral tests that have produced positive results has increased relatively consistently since June 17 and was at its highest point ever on Friday, based on data released by the Department of Public Health.

In the 10-county Northeast Health District, which includes Oconee and Clarke counties, the number of new confirmed cases of COVID-19 added in the Friday Daily Status Report was 48, and the seven-day rolling average of added cases was 37.1.

The Friday seven-day rolling average is exceeded only by the 38.4 average cases on May 30.

Oconee County was one of three counties in the region (Morgan and Madison counties were the others) that did not add new cases on Friday, but Clarke County added 22 cases, the same number it had added on Thursday.

Clarke County is clearly in a growth spurt in terms of new cases of COVID-19, having added 89 cases in the last week, but Clarke and Oconee counties are not reporting radically different case counts per 100,000 population.

For additional analysis of data on the spread of COVID-19 in the state and the region, please go to Oconee County Observations.