Seven-Day Rolling Average Of Added COVID-19 Cases In Northeast Health District Increases

***Rolling Average Added Deaths Down Slightly***

The Northeast Health District added 85 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, pushing up the seven-day rolling average of added cases. The rolling average of added confirmed deaths from the disease dropped with the addition of two deaths.

One of the added confirmed deaths was in Oconee County, which also had recorded a confirmed death on Sunday.

The Oconee County death was of a 69-year-old female without a chronic condition and brings to 62 the number of deaths in the county from the disease since the first was recorded in May of last year.

Oconee Long-Term Care Home Reports Two COVID-19 Deaths, The Third At Oconee Long-Term Care Facilities In Two Days

***Rolling Average For Added COVID-19 Cases Declines***

The Northeast Health District added only 35 new COVID-19 cases and no new confirmed deaths from the disease on Tuesday with the release of the Department of Public Health Daily Status Report.

The Department of Community Health, however, in its Long-Term Care Facility Report on Tuesday, listed two new deaths at The Landing Senior Living personal care home on U.S. 78 in Oconee County.

The Department of Community Health had listed a death at High Shoals Health and Rehabilitation nursing home, 3450 New High Shoals Road in the west of the county, in Monday’s Long-Term Care Facility Report.

State Health Reports List COVID-19 Deaths In Oconee, Clarke Counties; Rolling Average Added Confirmed Deaths Up In Health District

***Rolling Average Added COVID-19 Cases Falls***

With the addition of confirmed COVID-19 deaths in Clarke and Morgan counties in the Monday Department of Public Health Daily Status Report, the seven-day rolling average of added confirmed deaths in the Northeast Health District increased slightly on Monday.

In addition, the Department of Community Health, in its Long-Term Care Facility Report, listed one new resident death from COVID-19 at High Shoals Health and Rehabilitation nursing home in Oconee County.

The Department of Public Health added 45 new cases of the disease in the Monday Daily Status Report, and the seven-day rolling average of added cases in the District fell on Monday from Sunday.

Oconee County’s Representatives In General Assembly Voted For Major Changes In Election Laws

***Gave Themselves Stronger Role In Local Elections***

Sen. Bill Cowsert, Rep. Houston Gaines, and Rep. Marcus Wiedower, who represent Oconee County in the Georgia General Assembly, joined their Republican colleagues last week in voting to pass legislation making major changes to the state’s election laws.

The bill restricts absentee voting, alters how local governments can manage early voting, and gives the legislature itself, through the State Elections Board, much more power over local election procedures.

It also authorizes the three legislators to monitor and request a state audit of Oconee County’s and Clarke County’s election operations.

State Daily Status Report Lists COVID-19 Death Of 24-Year-Old In Oconee County

***Rolling Average Of Added Deaths In District Increases***

Oconee County reported its youngest death from COVID-19 in Sunday’s Daily Status Report with the listing of a 24-year-old male without a known chronic condition.

The death brings to 61 the number from the disease since the county recorded its first COVID-19 death in May of last year. The youngest person prior to the listing on Sunday was of a 43-year-old.

The actual date of death of the 24-year-old listed on Sunday was March 19.

Rolling Averages Of Added COVID-19 Deaths And Cases Increase In Daily Status Report For Northeast Health District

***Anniversary Of First COVID-19 Daily Update For Oconee***

With the addition of four COVID-19 deaths and 72 new cases of the disease, the seven-day rolling averages of added deaths and cases increased on Saturday in the Northeast Health District with the release of the Department of Public Health Daily Status Report.

The deaths were of an 83-year-old male in Barrow County with a chronic condition and of an 82-year-old female in Greene County, a 61-year-old female in Jackson County, and a 90-plus-year-old male in Walton County, all without chronic conditions.

Northeast Health District Adds Seven Confirmed COVID-19 Deaths; Rolling Average Added Deaths Increases

***Oconee Schools Reports Drop In Active Cases, Quarantines***

With the addition of seven confirmed deaths in Friday’s Daily Status Report, the seven-day rolling average of added deaths increased in the Northeast Health District, while the seven-day rolling average of added cases declined slightly.

Two of those seven deaths were in Clarke County: a 79-year-old male without a chronic condition and an 87-year-old male, also without a chronic condition.

Clarke County had added three deaths on Thursday and two on Wednesday.

Northeast Health District Adds Nine Confirmed COVID-19 Deaths, Three In Clarke County

***Rolling Average of Added Cases Declines***

The Northeast Health District added nine confirmed COVID-19 deaths on Thursday, pushing the seven-day rolling average of added confirmed deaths to 3.3 per day from 2.3 the day before.

Three of those confirmed deaths were in Clarke County, which had added two confirmed deaths from the disease on Wednesday.

The District added 94 new cases of COVID-19 in the Thursday Department of Public Health Daily Status Report, and the seven rolling average of added cases decreased from Wednesday.

Northeast Health District Adds 12 COVID-19 Deaths And 72 New Cases Of Disease

*** Rolling Averages Confirmed Cases Unchanged, Cases Down***

The Northeast Health District added eight confirmed deaths attributed to COVID-19 in the Wednesday Department of Public Health Daily Status Report.

The Department of Community Health also reported four deaths in the District in its Wednesday Long-Term Care Facility Report.

The District added 72 new cases of COVID-19 in the Department of Public Health Report.

Date For Watkinsville Called Election Following Resignation Of Mayor Not Yet Set

***County Waiting On Decisions To Be Made On Thursday***

The Oconee County Board of Elections and Registration on Monday postponed any decision on a special election in Watkinsville–necessitated by the abrupt resignation of Bob Smith as mayor--pending action taken by the Council on Thursday evening.

Elections Board Chair Rebecca Anglin said at the Monday meeting that although Smith resigned as mayor at the Mayor and Council meeting on March 17, she has not yet been told which offices might need to be filled in a special election.

Northeast Health District Adds 74 New Cases Of COVID-19, No New Deaths From Disease

***Rolling Average Added Cases Down; Average Deaths Unchanged***

The seven-day rolling average of added COVID-19 cases dropped in the Northeast Health District with the release of the Daily Status Report on Tuesday while the rolling average of added deaths remained unchanged.

The District added 74 new cases of COVID-19, and the seven-day rolling average of added cases dropped to 88.0 from 91.6 on Monday.

The District did not add any new deaths, as had been the case on Tuesday of last week, and the seven-day rolling average of added deaths held steady at 2.3 deaths per day.

Rolling Average Of Added COVID-19 Cases Increases In Northeast Health District With Release Of Daily Status Report

***Oconee Contributes Nearly One In Five Of Cases***

Driven by Oconee County’s numbers, the seven-day rolling average of added COVID-19 cases in the Northeast Health District increased on Monday with the release of the Department of Public Health Daily Status Report.

The District added 42 cases confirmed by molecular tests and 17 based on rapid antigen tests, and the seven-day rolling average of total added cases increased to 91.6 from 88.4 on Sunday.

The District added one death–of a 77-year-old male in Madison County without a known chronic condition–and the seven-day rolling average of added deaths fell to 2.3 from 2.4 on Sunday. Monday’s are light reporting days, and the District added two deaths a week ago.

Northeast Health District Adds 79 New COVID-19 Cases–More Than Double The Number Added On Sunday Of Last Week

***Oconee, Clarke Rolling Averages Of Added Cases Up***

The Northeast Health District Added 79 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, pushing up the seven-day rolling average to near where it was a week ago and suggesting that the drop in cases that began at the beginning of the month has ended.

The District added no new deaths attributed to COVID-19, but that had been true on Sunday of last week, and the seven-day rolling average of added deaths remained unchanged at 2.4 deaths per day.

The 10-county District has 837 COVID-19 deaths, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health.

Northeast Health District Adds 57 COVID-19 Cases And Two Deaths From Disease; Oconee Reported First Case One Year Ago

***Another Positive Test At Malcom Bridge Middle School***

On the one-year anniversary of the Georgia Department of Public Health reporting its first COVID-19 case in Oconee County, the county added seven cases on Saturday, and its seven-day rolling average of added cases was 11.3.

The surrounding 10-county Northeast Health District added 57 cases and two deaths in Saturday’s Department of Public Health Daily Status Report, and the seven-day rolling average of added cases dropped to 82.1 from 83.9 on Friday.

Rolling Averages Of COVID-19 Deaths And Cases Increase In Northeast Health District; Oconee School COVID-19 Cases, Quarantines Increase

***Oconee Cases Outpace Those In Clarke***

The seven-day rolling average of added COVID-19 confirmed deaths and cases increased in the Northeast Health District on Friday, as the District added three deaths and 90 new cases of the disease.

Oconee County Schools on Friday reported a near doubling of the number of Active Cases in the system’s 11 schools and an exact doubling of the number of Active Quarantines.

Data Show Faculty And Staff At Oconee County Schools Have High COVID-19 Rates, Point To Great Variability Among Schools

***Data Released By Schools Illuminate Weekly Reports***

Just less than a third of the positive tests for COVID-19 in Oconee County Schools since administrators began recording those data in early September through the first of this month have been for faculty and staff.

Faculty and staff made up more than half of the positive tests reported at the system’s six elementary schools and single primary school, about a quarter of the cases at the two middle schools, and nearly one in five of the cases at the two high schools.

When staff, faculty, and student cases are combined, 32.0 percent of all of the positive tests at the schools going back to Aug. 15 have been at the six elementary schools and the single primary school, 27.8 percent have been at the two middle schools, and 40.2 percent have been at the two high schools.

Department Of Public Health Adds Four COVID-19 Deaths In Northeast Health District And 134 New Cases Of Disease

***One Of Deaths In Oconee County***

The Northeast Health District added four confirmed COVID-19 deaths and 134 new cases of the disease with the Thursday release of the Department of Public Health Daily Status Report.

One of the deaths–of a 73-year-old male without a chronic condition–was in Oconee County, the 60th in the county from COVID-19 since the outbreak of the pandemic.

Seven-Day Rolling Averages Of Added COVID-19 Deaths And Cases Increased In Northeast Health District

***Oconee County Schools Positive Tests Reported***

With the addition of eight COVID-19 deaths and 123 new cases of the disease, the seven-day rolling averages of COVID-19 deaths and cases increased in the Northeast Health District on Wednesday.

The deaths were in seven of the 10 counties in the Northeast Health District, according to the Department of Public Health Daily Status Report. The exceptions were Oconee, Clarke, and Jackson counties.

The District now has 830 deaths attributed to the coronavirus, and the seven-day rolling average of added deaths increased from 2.1 on Tuesday to 2.4 on Wednesday. The District had added six deaths on Wednesday of last week.

Oconee County School Tax Referendum Receives Overwhelming Support In Low Turnout Election

***Only 1,924 Of County’s 30,516 Voters Cast A Ballot***

Oconee County Schools’ gambit of seeking early approval of a new Education Local Option Sales Tax in a low-key election paid big dividends on Tuesday with 83.6 percent of the 1,924 voters who cast a ballot approving.

Turnout was the lowest ever for any of the six Education Local Option Sales Tax referendums going back to 1997 and involved the second smallest number of voters.

Department Of Public Health Reports 99 New COVID-19 Cases, No Deaths In Northeast Health District

***Rolling Average Cases Drops, But No Change In Deaths***

The Northeast Health District saw a small drop in the rolling average of added cases of COVID-19 with the release of the Tuesday Daily Status Report and no change in the rolling average of added deaths from the disease.

The Department of Public Health reported 99 new cases of COVID-19 in the 10-county Northeast Health District, compared with 107 on Tuesday of last week, and the seven-day rolling average of added cases dropped to 80.7 from 81.9 on Monday.

Rolling Average of Added COVID-19 Cases Continues to Decline In Northeast Health District, But Not Deaths

***No New Long-Term Care Facility Deaths And Cases***

The seven-day rolling average of added COVID-19 cases in the Northeast Health District continued to decline on Monday with the addition of 37 new cases of the disease and two deaths attributed to the coronavirus.

Monday and Sunday reports of the Department of Public Health follow light reporting days from labs and medical facilities around the state, and the Department of Public Health Daily Status Report last Monday contained 116 cases but only one death.

Northeast Health District Adds 38 Confirmed COVID-19 Cases, No Deaths From Disease; Rolling Average Added Cases Drops

***Area Hospitals Report Increase In COVID-19 Cases***

With the addition of only 38 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Sunday’s Daily Status Report--the smallest number since Nov. 16--the seven-day rolling average of added cases continued to decline in the Northeast Health District.

The District added no confirmed deaths from the disease, which had been the case on Sunday of last week as well, and the seven-day rolling average of 2.0 deaths per day remained unchanged. Sundays are light reporting from labs and medical facilities to the Department of Public Health.

Seven-Day Rolling Averages of Added COVID-19 Cases And Confirmed Deaths Decline In Northeast Health District

***Cases Increase In Oconee And Clarke Counties***

The Northeast Health District added only 69 COVID-19 cases and one death from the disease on Saturday, and the seven-day rolling average of both continued to decline.

The Department of Public Health Daily Status Report listed the death of an 82-year-old male in Walton County with a chronic condition as the sole confirmed death, bringing to 216 the number of COVID-19 deaths in Walton County and to 820 in the District.

The seven-day rolling average of added deaths fell to 2.0 and now has declined three days in a row.

Small Number Of Oconee County Voters Likely To Decide Future Of Education Sales Tax

Early Voting Turnout Very Light

Only 1,282 voters cast a ballot in early voting, which ended Friday, or returned an absentee ballot, making it almost certain that a very small percentage of Oconee County’s 31,965 registered voters is going to decide the fate of a major educational tax referendum.

Oconee County Schools is asking citizens to approve a new Education Local Option Sales Tax–effectively continuing the one in place–and authorize issuance of general obligation bonds for up to $42,950,000 to finance construction of a list of new capital projects.

Northeast Health District Adds Five Confirmed COVID-19 Deaths, Only 77 New Cases Of Disease

***Oconee Schools Report Drop In Cases, Quarantines***

The Northeast Health District added five confirmed deaths from COVID-19 on Friday and only 77 new cases of the disease as the Department of Public Health Released its Daily Status Report.

Because the Department of Public Health eliminated four deaths in Barrow County it had previously listed as the result of COVID-19, the net addition of one death from the disease resulted in a drop in the seven-day rolling average of added deaths.

The seven-day rolling average of added cases also declined on Friday.

Northeast Health District Adds Six Confirmed COVID-19 Deaths, Including Two In Clarke County

***Rolling Averages Of Added Cases And Deaths Decline***

The Northeast Health District added six confirmed deaths from COVID-19 in Thursday’s Department of Public Health Daily Status Report and 145 new cases of the disease.

For the second day in a row, two of the added confirmed deaths were in Clarke County.

Oconee And Clarke Counties Account For Three Of Six New COVID-19 Confirmed Deaths In Public Health Report

***Rolling Average Of Added COVID-19 Cases Drops Sharply***

Oconee County added one confirmed COVID-19 death and Clarke added two as the 10-county Northeast Health District as a whole added six deaths from the disease with the release of the Wednesday Department of Public Health Daily Status Report.

With the addition of the six deaths, the seven-day rolling average of added confirmed deaths from COVID-19 in the 10-county Northeast Health District remained unchanged at 2.7. The District had added six deaths on Wednesday of last week.

The seven-day rolling average of added COVID-19 cases dropped dramatically with release of Wednesday’s Daily Status Report.

Northeast Health District Adds 107 COVID-19 Cases, No Deaths From Disease; Rolling Averages Decline

***Two Probable Deaths Reported***

The rolling averages of added COVID-19 cases and confirmed deaths attributed to the disease fell in the Northeast Health District on Tuesday with only 107 new cases and no deaths reported by the Department of Public Health.

The District did add two “probable deaths” in Walton County, but without any added confirmed deaths, the seven-day rolling average of added deaths fell to 2.7 from 3.0 on Monday. The District had added two confirmed deaths on Tuesday of last week.

Northeast Health District Adds 116 COVID-19 Cases And One Confirmed Death From Disease In Public Health Report

***Two Clarke Deaths Listed In Community Health Report***

The Northeast Health District added 116 COVID-19 cases and one confirmed death from the disease with the release of the Department of Public Health Daily Status Report on Monday, resulting in small drops in the seven-day rolling averages of added cases and deaths.

The single confirmed death was of an 82-year-old Walton County female without a chronic condition. Her death brings to 212 the number of confirmed deaths in Walton County from the coronavirus and to 807 the number in the District.

Oconee County’s Two State Representatives Mum On Proposed Changes To State Election Laws

***Columns Large Ignore Debate In Atlanta***

Houston Gaines and Marcus Wiedower, who represent Oconee County in the Georgia House of Representatives, ended their Legislative Rundown column in The Oconee Enterprise on March 4 with this invitation.

“Constituent feedback is critical in decision making on all legislation,” they write. “As always, please reach out to us anytime.”

The pair’s weekly columns in the paper all end in a similar refrain and contain Gaines’ and Wiedower’s official email addresses and sometimes their telephone numbers.

Northeast Health District Added 109 COVID-19 Cases, No Deaths, In Sunday Department Of Public Health Report

***Rolling Averages Added Cases Up, Deaths Unchanged***

The seven-day rolling average of added COVID-19 cases in the Northeast Health District increased on Sunday, and the rolling average of added deaths remained unchanged.

The Department of Public Health, in its Sunday Daily Status Report, listed 109 new cases of COVID-19, up from 99 a week ago, and the seven-day rolling average increased to 163.9 from 162.4 on Saturday.

The Report listed no new confirmed deaths from the disease in the District, as also was the case a week ago, and the seven-day rolling average on Sunday was 3.4, as it was on Saturday.

Northeast Health District Adds 116 New COVID-19 Cases, Two Deaths From Disease; Rolling Averages Of Cases, Deaths Decline

***District Lagging State As Whole In Vaccinations***

With the addition of 116 new COVID-19 cases and two death from the disease, the seven-day rolling averages of added cases and added confirmed deaths decreased on Saturday in the Northeast Health District.

The Department of Public Health reported confirmed deaths of a 43-year-old female in Clarke County without a chronic condition and of an 88-year-old male in Walton County, also without a chronic condition.

Seven-Day Rolling Average Added COVID-19 Cases In Northeast Health District Decreases, While Rolling Average Deaths Increases

***Active Cases, Quarantines Oconee Schools Increase***

The Northeast Health District added 91 new cases of COVID-19 in the Department of Public Health’s Daily Status Report on Friday, and the seven-day rolling average of added cases fell for the second day in a row.

The 10-county District added four confirmed deaths, and the seven-day rolling average of added deaths increased to 3.6 deaths per day from 3.1 on Thursday.

Northeast Health District Adds 163 New COVID-19 Cases, Six Deaths From Disease; Rolling Averages Decline

***Positivity Rates And Number Of Tests Drop In Oconee, Clarke***

With the addition of 163 new COVID-19 cases in the Northeast Health District on Thursday, the seven-day rolling average of added cases fell slightly, halting an eight-day increase in the average.

The District added six deaths, and the seven-day rolling average of added deaths also dropped on Thursday.

For the second day in a row, one of the added confirmed deaths in the Department of Public Health Daily Status Report was in Clarke County: a 62-year-old female without a chronic condition.

Attorney For Oconee County Schools Rejects Request From UGA Law School Clinic For Live Streaming Of School Board Meetings

***Says School Board Not Violating Open Meetings Act***

The attorney for Oconee County Schools has rejected the request made by representatives of the University of Georgia School of Law First Amendment Clinic that it live stream Board of Education meetings and provide access to those meetings for individuals who wish to attend virtually.

Phillip L. Hartley, a Gainesville attorney, said that the Georgia Open Meetings Act does not require “virtual transmission” of a “live meeting” unless the Board itself is meeting virtually under emergency conditions, as it did from April through July 6 of last year.

Northeast Health District Reports 283 New COVID-19 Cases And Six Deaths From Disease, Two In Clarke County

***Seven-Day Rolling Average Added Cases Increases***

The Northeast Health District added 283 new COVID-19 cases and six confirmed deaths from the disease on Wednesday, pushing up for the eighth day running the seven-day rolling average of added cases.

The rolling average of added deaths fell from 4.3 on Tuesday to 3.6 on Wednesday, as the District had added 11 deaths last Wednesday.

Two of the added confirmed deaths were in Clarke County: a 70-year-old male without a chronic condition and a 90-plus-year-old female without a known chronic conditions.

Oconee Commissioners Approve Rezones For Oconee Mercantile And Movement Of The Stone Store

***Commission Vote Split On U.S. 441 Multi-Use Project***

In well-organized and coordinated presentations to the Oconee County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday evening, citizens in neighborhoods abutting the proposed Oconee Mercantile project on U.S. 441 said how they had relied on past county zoning decisions to protect their homes.

The proposed multi-use commercial development and accompanying relocation of The Stone Store not only would adversely affect their residential neighborhoods, they said, but they also would be contrary to what the county had promised with its past zoning decisions.

Northeast Health District Added 252 New COVID-19 Cases, Pushing Up Again the Rolling Average Of Added Cases

***District Added Two Deaths***

With the addition of 252 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, the seven-day rolling average of added cases increased in the Northeast Health District for the seventh day in a row.

The District added two confirmed deaths from the disease in the Department of Public Health Daily Status Report, and the seven-day rolling average of added deaths declined for the second day running.

Oconee County Board Of Commissioners To Decide On Move Of Stone Store And Planned Use Of Its Current Site

***Planning Commission Sends Mixed Recommendations***

The Oconee County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday night likely will decide the future location of The Stone Store and, if the developers of the proposed U.S. 441 mixed-use project are to be believed, the viability of that project itself.

The Commissioners are scheduled to vote on a rezone request for just more than 23 acres on U.S. 441 across from the intersection of Hog Mountain Road as well as on a second related rezone and special use variance request for just less than six acres just north of that intersection.

Rolling Average Added COVID-19 Cases Continues To Increase In Northeast Health District

***Rolling Average Added Deaths Declines***

The seven-day rolling average of added COVID-19 cases continued to increase in the Northeast Health District on Monday with the release of the Department of Public Health Daily Status Report.

The Department of Public Health listed 133 new cases of the disease in the District along with four new confirmed deaths from the disease.