Monday, August 01, 2022

Area Hospitals Report Increase In COVID-19 Cases; Oconee Records Confirmed Death From Disease, Clarke Records Two

***Cases In Northeast Health District Up Slightly***

The Georgia Hospital Association and the Georgia Emergency Management Agency reported on Friday that area hospitals had 39 COVID-19 patients, up from 33 on Friday of last week.

The number of ICU beds in use was 54, down from 70 a week earlier, and the number of adult ventilators in use was 23, down from 25 a week ago.

As of Monday, the number of COVID-19 patients at area hospitals was 37, the number of ICU beds in use was 68, and the number of adult ventilators in use was 23.

The Georgia Department of Public Health reported that the number of new recorded COVID-19 cases in the Northeast Health District tallied by the electronic tracking system in the week ending on July 27 was 1,162.

The 10-county District had added 1,109 cases in the week ending on July 20.

The Department of Public Heath Report on Wednesday added six confirmed deaths from COVID-19.

One of those deaths was in Oconee County, and two were in Clarke County.

The Northeast Health District added two “probable” death from COVID-19 in the week ending on Wednesday.

The Northeast Health District includes Oconee and Clarke counties.

Weekly Report

Although the Department of Public Health is releasing a report only weekly, it is gathering data on a daily basis, and the weekly report includes a data file containing case counts each day.

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The Department of Public Health switched to weekly, rather than daily, case counts in April in part because of a concern that its counts under-represent the actual number of cases.

At home test results are not included in the electronic reporting system.

If the undercount is consistent week-to-week, however, the trends across time would track changes in the occurrence of COVID-19 in the 10-county Northeast Health District as well as in the state.

The average number of added cases per day in the last seven days ending on Wednesday in the Northeast Health District was 160.0, compared with 158.4 in the seven days ending on July 20.

That average has increased, if slightly, each week since May 4.

Oconee County added 50 cases in the seven days ending on Wednesday. The county added 56 cases in the seven days ending on July 20.

Clarke County added 274 new cases in the seven days ending on July 27. It had added 264 new cases in the week ending on July 20.

The unstandardized rolling average of added cases in Oconee County on Wednesday was 7.1. It had been 7.9 on July 20.

In Clarke County, the unstandardized seven-day rolling average of added cases on Wednesday was 39.7, compared with 36.3 on July 20.

Deaths

The Oconee County death was of a 70-year-old female without a chronic condition.

The Clarke County deaths were of a 66-year-old female without chronic condition and of a 75-yer-old male without a known chronic condition.

The Oconee death brings to 96 the number of confirmed death from COVID-19 in the county since the onset of the pandemic in February of 2020.

The Clarke County deaths bring to 228 in the county since February of 2020.

That represents 175.6 deaths per 100,000 population in Clarke County, the lowest rate of any of the 10 counties in the Northeast Health District.

The other three confirmed deaths from COVID-19 in the Wednesday Department of Public Health Report were in Walton County.

The 10-county Northeast Health District now has 1,610 confirmed COVID-19 deaths since February of 2020, or 303.7 per 100,000 population.

That figure is 177.2 in Clarke County, 229.7 in Oconee County, and 406.5 in Walton County,

Clarke and Oconee have the two lowest rates per 100,000 population in the 10-county Northeast Health District.

The Northeast Health District now has 173 “probable” deaths from COVID-19.

The added “probable” deaths were in Barrow and Elbert counties.

Focus On Hospital Reports

In its announcement in April, the Georgia Department of Public Health said “Given the number of at-home COVID tests that do not get reported, there is now a greater focus on other indicators.”

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The announcement directed attention to the data released by the Georgia Hospital Association and the Georgia Emergency Management Agency.

The hospital data available for the area include the 10 counties in the Northeast Health District plus Hart and Franklin counties. The data are dominated by St. Mary’s and Piedmont Regional in Athens-Clarke County.

The University of Georgia has discontinued issuance of its COVID-19 Health and Exposure Updates.

Oconee County Schools is not in session and does not issue its weekly COVID-19 update during the summer.

Classes resume on Aug. 3.

The Centers for Disease Control and prevention rates the Transmission Rate of COVID-19 in Oconee and Clarke counties as high, based on total number of new cases per 100,000 population in the last seven days and the percentage of Nucleic Acid Amplification Tests that positive during the last seven days, ending on Thursday.

All but one county in the state (Glascock) are rated as High Transmission.

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