Sunday, January 03, 2021

Rolling Averages Of Added COVID-19 Cases Increase In Oconee And Clarke Counties And In Northeast Health District

***Oconee Averaging Nearly 50 New Cases Per Day***

The seven-day rolling averages of added COVID-19 cases increased in Oconee and Clarke counties on Sunday and in the Northeast Health District as a whole with the release of the Daily Status Report by the Georgia Department of Public Health.

Oconee County added 39 cases, and the seven-day rolling average of added cases increased to 49.6, the highest average to date. The average had been 46.4 on Saturday.

Clarke County added 97 cases, and the seven-day rolling average increased from 84.1 on Saturday to 93.1 on Sunday. The 93.1 figure is a new high for Clarke County as well.

Across the 10-county Northeast Health District, which includes Oconee and Clarke counties and the eight counties surrounding them, the addition of 449 new cases on Sunday resulted in an increase in the seven-day rolling average from 491.6 on Saturday to 521.9 on Sunday–a level never reached before.

The District did not add any deaths from COVID-19 in the Sunday Daily Status Report, and the seven-day rolling average of added deaths remained unchanged at 1.7 deaths per day.

The Georgia Hospital Association (GHA) and the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) reported on Sunday that the number of COVID-19 patients at area hospitals (267) increased by three from the day before, the number of ICU beds in use (69) decreased by one from the day before, and the number of adult ventilators in use (53) increased by five from the day before.

The number of COVID-19 patients at area hospitals has increased each day since Dec. 23 and at 267 is the highest level ever recorded. COVID-19 patients make up 41.6 percent of the patients in the hospitals, the same as on Saturday and the highest percentage ever recorded. The state figure on Sunday was 30.5 percent, a new record.

Area hospitals have expanded their ICU capacity to handle the demand and now report having 74 beds available, rather than the usual 70.

The GMA data are reported as being current as of the beginning of the day on Sunday. The data are for Region E of GEMA, which consists of the 10 counties of the Northeast Health District plus Hart and Franklin counties and has nine hospitals with emergency rooms. The largest and dominant hospitals with the vast majority of the beds are the two in Clarke County.

Oconee County Schools do not resume in-person classes until Tuesday, but Kevin Yancey, principal at Oconee County High School, sent parents of students in that school an email at 9:19 p.m. on Saturday informing them that “an individual in our school” tested positive for COVID-19.

State Data

The Daily Status Report on Sunday added 5,973 new cases of COVID-19, and the seven-day rolling average of added cases increased to 8,616.3, an unprecedented level more than double the level of a month ago. The average had been 8,284.7 on Saturday.

The Daily Status Reported added three deaths from COVID-19 on Sunday, and the seven-day rolling average of added deaths was 26.4 per day, down from 26.7 on Saturday.

One of the deaths was dated as occurring on Jan. 2, and another was undated. The state also eliminated one death previously listed as caused by COVID-19.

The Daily Status Report also listed two “probable deaths” from COVID-19, and the seven-day rolling average of added “probable deaths” increased to 13.7 from 13.4 on Saturday.

Across the state, the Georgia Hospital Association (GHA) and the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) reported on Sunday that the number of COVID-19 patients (4,821) increased from the day before, the number of ICU beds in use (2,653) increased from the day before, and the number of adult ventilators in use (1,480) decreased from the day before.

The Centers for Disease and Control COVID Data Tracker on Sunday reported the same number of first shots of the COVID-19 vaccine, 69,225, as on Saturday as well as the same number of doses distributed, 445,550.

These data on vaccine distributions and receipt are not available on the CDC or Georgia Department of Health sites at the county level.

The Georgia Department of Community Health did not issue its Long-Term Care Facility Report on Sunday.

Charts

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 Sunday.

Click To Enlarge

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