Sunday, August 02, 2020

Added Confirmed Cases Of COVID-19 Set New Record Again In Northeast Health District

***No New Deaths Reported, And Rolling Average Unchanged***

The Northeast Health District added 97 new confirmed COVID-19 cases on Sunday, and the seven-day rolling average of added cases increased to a new record of 160.4.

Oconee County added seven cases, and Clarke County added 23. All of the remaining eight counties in the District except for Elbert County added one or more cases in the Department of Public Health Daily Status Report on Sunday.

The 97 added cases on Sunday compared with 64 added a week ago. Sundays are light reporting days generally. The seven-day rolling average on Saturday had been 155.7.

The Department of Public Health reported no new COVID-19 deaths in the Northeast Health District on Sunday. No deaths had been included in last Sunday’s Daily Status Report, and the seven-day rolling average of added deaths remained unchanged on Sunday at 0.6.

The Georgia Emergency Management Agency reported on Sunday that area hospitals had nine Critical Care Beds available, down from 10 on Saturday. The data are current as of the reporting deadline of noon each day.

The Department of Community Health does not issue its Long-Term Care Facility Report on the weekends.

Hospital CEO Addresses Reports

Michael Burnett, CEO of Piedmont Athens Regional Medical Center, wrote in the Athens Banner-Herald on Sunday that “over the past several weeks” the hospital “has seen an increase in coronavirus (COVID-19) positive patients as well as an increase in overall patient volumes for reasons other than COVID-19.”

Burnett said he was writing because “Recently, there have been reports about our hospital’s capacity and our ability to provide critical care to the citizens in our region.” 

“I’m writing today to address some of the questions and concerns our community has had and to assure our community that like all hospitals and health systems, our patient volumes fluctuate regularly, but we continue to meet the healthcare needs of our patients for everything from emergent to ongoing medical care.”

“With these fluctuations also comes diversion notifications--something that’s also been recently reported,” Burnett wrote.

“Diversion is a situation that arises when Emergency Department (ED) and inpatient beds fill up and EMS providers are instructed to take patients requiring a bed elsewhere, a frequent occurrence for hospitals,” the column continues.

“However, diversion has no impact on our hospital’s ability to care for our patients, whether they arrive on an emergency or elective basis,” Burnett wrote.

“Yes, diversion may mean our hospital is very full, but rest assured that we continue to have capacity to treat the patients who come to us, whether it is for COVID-19 or any of the other myriad conditions we treat,” Burnett wrote.

State Data

The Georgia Department of Public Health reported on Sunday that the state as a whole added 3,172 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, and the seven-day rolling average of added cases increased to 3,661.6 from 3,602.1 on Saturday.

The State added 15 deaths attributed to COVID-19 on Sunday, compared with three added Sunday a week ago, and the seven-day rolling average of added deaths increased to 49.1 from 47.4 on Saturday.

The average of 49.1 added deaths is a new record.

All 15 of those added deaths occurred in the last 14 days.

The Georgia Emergency Management Agency reported that the state had 3,069 Current Confirmed COVID-19 Hospitalizations on Sunday, down from 3,095 on Saturday.

The number of ventilators in use increased from 1,181 on Saturday to 1,197 on Sunday.

Charts

Charts 1 to 4 below are based on data from the Department of Public Health Daily Status Report and have been updated to include data from the release of that report at 2:50 p.m. on Sunday.

Charts 1 and 2 include data from the 10-county Northeast Health District of the Department of Public Health, which includes Oconee and Clarke counties.

Charts 3 and 4 show data for the entire state of Georgia.

Click any of the charts to enlarge it.

Chart 1

Chart 2

Chart 3

Chart 4

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