Northeast Health District Adds 363 New COVID-19 Cases; More Than 20 Percent Of Area Hospital Patients Have COVID-19

***No Confirmed Death From Disease Reported On Saturday***

The Northeast Health District added 286 confirmed COVID-19 cases based on molecular tests and another 77 cases based on rapid antigen testing with the release of the Department of Public Health Daily Status Report on Saturday.

The seven-day rolling average of added molecular cases increased to 210.9 from 190.7 on Friday, and the seven-day rolling average of added antigen cases increased to 56.4 on Saturday from 47.9 on Friday.

The rolling average for molecular-based cases is the highest it has been in the District since Sept. 9. The Department of Public Health began reporting antigen test outcomes only on Nov. 3, and the average on Saturday was the highest ever for the District.

Each of the 10 counties in the District added at least two molecular cases, with Oconee County adding 12 and Clarke County adding 82. The seven-day rolling average of added cases increased both in Oconee and Clarke counties.

Each county except for Morgan reported added antigen cases on Saturday, with Oconee County reporting 14 added cases and Clarke County reporting 15.

The District reported no confirmed deaths in the Daily Status Report on Saturday, and the seven-day rolling average of added deaths dropped to 1.0 on Saturday from 1.1 on Friday.

The District did add one “probable” death--in Oconee County. The Department of Public Health began reporting “probable” deaths only on Nov. 3, and the District now has 31. The “probable” death reported on Saturday was the first in Oconee County.

The Georgia Hospital Association (GHA) and the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) reported on Saturday that the number of COVID-19 patients at area hospitals (138) increased by five from the day before, that the number of ICU beds in use (67) decreased by two from the day before, and that the number of adult ventilators in use (38) increased by nine from the day before.

The 138 COVID-19 patients at area hospitals is the highest level recorded going back to Aug. 12.

The percentage of patients in area hospitals who have COVID-19 reached 20.9 on Saturday, higher than the state figure (15.0 percent) and the highest it has been since Aug. 24. Area hospitals report having 660 total patients.

State Data

Across the state, the Daily Status Report listed 3,749 COVID-19 cases based on molecular tests and 1,418 based on antigen tests.

The seven-day rolling average for the added cases based on the molecular test increased to 3,344.6 on Saturday from 3,192.3 on Friday, and the seven-day rolling average of added cases based on antigen tests increased to 1,357.4 on Saturday from 1,226.7 on Friday.

The Daily Status Report listed 48 confirmed deaths attributed to COVID-19 with the release of the Daily Status Report on Saturday, and the seven-day rolling average of added deaths increased to 29.4 from 26.7 on Friday.

Twenty-one of those deaths were in the last 14 days, and the seven-day rolling average of added deaths dated by occurrence increased on Saturday, as it has the last three days.

The State eliminated one death from its archive of deaths attributed to COVID-19, it also added 21 “probable” deaths. The rolling average of added “probable” deaths increased to 25.0 from 24.1 on Friday.

Across the state, the Georgia Hospital Association (GHA) and the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) reported on Saturday that the number of COVID-19 patients (2,399) increased from the day before, the number of ICU beds in use (2,479) decreased from the day before, and the number of adult ventilators in use (856) decreased from the day before.

The number of COVID-19 patients is the highest it has been since Aug. 21.

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

Charts

All of the charts 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 Saturday.

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.

Chart 3 shows data for Oconee and Clarke counties in the main chart. The inserted chart is based on data for Region E of GEMA and for the entire state of Georgia. Region E consists of the 10 counties in the Northeast Health District plus Franklin and Hart counties.

Charts 4 and 5 show data for the entire state of Georgia.

Click on any of the charts to enlarge it.