GA Coronavirus: 500 Deaths, Cases At 138 Long-Term Facilities

GEORGIA — As Georgia passes 500 deaths due to the coronavirus, the Georgia Department of Public Health is working on making more information available to the public, including the amount of cases per county population.

As of Tuesday at noon, there have been 501 deaths due to coronavirus in Georgia. There have been 14,223 cases confirmed and 2,769 hospitalized, or 19.47 percent. Deaths make up 3.52 percent of Georgia cases. From the numbers released at noon on Monday, this is an increase of 908 cases, 180 hospitalizations and 37 deaths.

Fulton County has recorded the most cases thus far, with 1,774 cases and 57 deaths. Dougherty County in southwest Georgia, where Albany is the site of the state's worst hotspot, is second with 1,286 cases but has recorded the most deaths with 78, more than any other Georgia county.

The other counties in the top 10 include DeKalb, with 1,067 cases and 15 deaths; Cobb, with 874 cases and 39 deaths; Gwinnett, with 794 cases and 26 deaths; Clayton, with 427 cases and 12 deaths; Hall, with 339 cases and 12 deaths; Henry, with 302 cases and no deaths; Sumter, with 265 cases and 11 deaths; and Lee, with 257 cases and 15 deaths. Glascock and Taliaferro are the only counties to report no coronavirus cases.

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The Georgia Department of Public Health has started to include a confirmed case rate per 100,000 persons by county. The rate indicates the number of cases among Georgia residents per 100,000 population using 2019 Census data projections as the denominator, the DPH said. Rates for counties with fewer than five cases may not be accurate and are not presented in the report.

Of the counties with the top 10 highest amount of confirmed cases, Fulton County has a case rate of 163.1 per 100,000 people. Dougherty County has a case rate of 1,377; DeKalb has a rate of 142.1; Cobb has a rate of 113.1; Gwinnett has a rate of 82.1; Clayton has a rate of 152.4; Hall has a rate of 163.7; Henry has a rate of 127.4; Sumter has a rate of 867.2; and Lee has a rate of 797.5.

The Georgia Department of Public Health Lab has tested 3,983 people for coronavirus, with 761 positive. Commercial laboratories have tested 57,812 people with 13,463 positive.

The Georgia Department of Public Health has also begun including more details of cases and deaths, including that 60 percent of cases are in the 18-59 age range. For those 60 or older, they comprise 35 percent of cases.

The race and ethnicity of cases and deaths in Georgia are also now included, with black or African American, non-Hispanic/Latino, having the most cases with 2,580, and 248 deaths. The next largest group are those who are white, non-Hispanic/Latino, with 1,853 cases and 172 deaths.

Ages are also included, with a 22-year-old woman from Muscogee County with underlying medical conditions, a 27-year-old woman from Lee County without underlying medical conditions, and two 29-year-olds dying from coronavirus, including a woman in Peach County, it is unknown if she had underlying medical conditions, and a man in Cobb County without any underlying medical conditions. One of the oldest people to die from coronavirus in Georgia was a 100-year-old woman from Greene County, but it is unknown if she had underlying medical conditions.

The state of Georgia has also started releasing long-term care facility reports. As of Tuesday, there are 138 facilities in the state with at least one case of coronavirus. Pruitt Health Palmyra in Albany has the most cases as of Tuesday with 70 cases and fewer than 10 deaths.

"For over a month, we’ve talked about our aging population, our most vulnerable in the battle against coronavirus," Gov. Brian Kemp said during a press conference Monday afternoon."We’ve issued guidance and orders to protect these men and women, and we’ve taken measured steps to shield them from harm. Right now, there are at least eighty long-term care facilities, including nursing homes, assisted living facilities, personal care homes, hospice, and similar community living facilities, with COVID-19 cases. We’re working to verify new information on additional facilities."

The report shows COVID-19 cases in long-term care facilities based on data provided to the Georgia Department of Public Health.

"To the extent feasible, this report will be published on a weekly basis," the Georgia Department of Public Health said. "The data in this report is contingent on what information has been provided to, and verified by, the Department of Public Health. It is possible that a facility is reporting different numbers to different entities, but unless it has been verified by the Department of Public Health, it will not be included in this weekly report. This report is subject to change."

According to the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine, there have been more than 572,000 confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States and 43,000 of those have already recovered, however there have also been 24,000 deaths. Worldwide there are more than 1.9 million cases and 121,000 deaths.

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