Thursday, December 10, 2020

Northeast Health District Adds Record Number Of New COVID-19 Cases, Following State Lead

***One New Death From Disease Reported***

The Northeast Health District on Thursday added 401 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 based on molecular tests, the largest number ever added in a single day, plus 30 cases based on antigen tests, and one death attributed to the disease.

The 401 added cases compare with the previous high of 385 added on Sept. 5 and pushed the seven-day rolling average of added cases based on this test to 253.0, up from 231.4 on Wednesday, and the highest seven-day rolling average ever.

The Department of Public Health also added 30 cases in the Northeast Health District based on antigen tests in its Daily Status Report on Thursday, and the seven-day rolling average of added cases from antigen tests dropped to 50.4 from 54.4 on Wednesday.

The seven-day rolling average of added cases based on both the molecular and antigen tests reached 303.4 on Thursday, up from 285.9 on Wednesday, and the highest level since the state began releasing antigen tests results on Nov. 3.

Every one of the District’s 10 counties added at least six cases based on molecular tests, with Oconee County adding 14 and Clarke County adding 75.

Oconee County also added two cases based on antigen tests, and the seven-day rolling average of added cases based on both tests was 16.1 in Oconee County on Thursday, down from 16.4 on Wednesday, while in Clarke County it was 64.3, the same as the day before.

That seven-day rolling average has increased over the last two weeks from 10.0 in Oconee County on Nov. 27 and from 42.7 in Clarke County on that same date.

Deaths, Hospitalizations, Long-Term Care Homes

The death reported in the Daily Status Report was of a male in Madison County without a chronic condition who is listed as 90 plus in age. It was the second death from COVID-19 reported in Madison County in as many days and brings to 15 the number of deaths from the disease in the county.

The Northeast Health District as a whole now has 365 deaths attributed to COVID-19, and the seven-day rolling average of added deaths dropped to 1.3 on Thursday from 1.4 on Wednesday.

The Georgia Hospital Association (GHA) and the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) reported on Thursday that the number of COVID-19 patients at area hospitals (140) remained the same as the day before, that the number of ICU beds in use (66) increased by one from the day before, and that the number of adult ventilators in use (31) increased by one from the day before.

The Department of Community Health listed six new cases of COVID-19 among residents of long-term care homes in the Northeast Health District on Thursday. Three of those were at The Oaks Athens Skilled Nursing in Clarke County and three were at Great Oaks personal care home in Walton County.

The Department of Community Health also listed four new cases of COVID-19 among staff at the area’s long-term care facilities. One of those cases was St. Mary’s Highland Hills Village, 1660 Jennings Mill Road in Oconee County, and three were at Great Oaks in Walton County.

State Data

The Department of Public Health reported 6,126 new cases of COVID-19 across the state based on molecular tests, the largest number ever reported on a single day. The seven-day rolling average of added cases jumped from 3,909.4 on Wednesday to 4,153.3 on Thursday.

The state also added 1,824 new cases of COVID-19 based on antigen tests, and the seven-day rolling average of added cases based on antigen tests increased to 1,379.6 on Thursday from 1,351.6 on Wednesday.

With the addition of 55 new confirmed deaths from COVID-19 in the Thursday Daily Status Report, the seven-day rolling average of added deaths increased just slightly from 35.6 on Wednesday to 35.9 on Thursday.

Thirty of those added deaths occurred in the last 14 days, and the seven-day rolling average of added deaths based on date of occurrence also increased.

The Department of Public Health eliminated five deaths previously listed as caused by COVID-19 from its records and listed four “probable deaths” from the disease.

Across the state, the Georgia Hospital Association (GHA) and the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) reported on Thursday that the number of COVID-19 patients (2,735) increased from the day before, the number of ICU beds in use (2,518) decreased from the day before, and the number of adult ventilators in use (861) decreased from the day before.

The number of COVID-19 patients is the highest it has been since Aug. 13.

The Department of Community Health listed 665 long-term care facilities across the state with COVID-19 among their residents and/or staff on Thursday, up from 662 on Wednesday.

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 Thursday.

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 only.

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

Chart 1

Chart 2

Chart 3

Chart 4

Chart 5

1 comment:

Rosemary Woodel said...

Thanks, Lee, for continuing to do this important reporting. I'm always grateful but don't always write you.