Ninth Oconee County COVID-19 Death Reported By Georgia Department Of Public Health On Wednesday

***Northeast Health District Added 16 COVID-19 Deaths In Week***

Oconee County added a ninth death attributed to COVID-19 in the Wednesday Daily Status Report of the Georgia Department of Public Health, and Walton County added three deaths, bringing the total number of deaths attributed to the disease in the Northeast Health District to 77.

The 10-county Northeast Health District has added 16 COVID-19 deaths in the last week, and the seven-day rolling average of added deaths attributed to the disease in the District stood at 2.3 at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, the same as the day before.

Oconee County Schools Reviewing Options On School Reopening, Superintendent Tells School Board

***Waiting On Report Of COVID-19 Spread In County***

Oconee County School Superintendent Jason Branch told the Board of Education at its meeting on Monday that he and his staff are reviewing the guidelines from the Georgia Department of Public Education and the Georgia Department of Public Health to determine how schools will reopen in the fall.

The two state departments had released earlier in the day guidelines for school systems regarding the reopening of schools following their closure this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Oconee And Clarke Counties Each Add COVID-19 Death On Tuesday, As Northeast Health District Adds Seven

***Seven-Day Rolling Average Of Deaths Jumps***

The Northeast Health District added seven deaths attributed to COVID-19 in the Daily Status Report of the Department of Public Health on Tuesday, with Oconee County and Clarke County each accounting for one of the deaths.

The addition of seven deaths was the largest ever recorded for the 10-county Northeast Health District in a single day, and the seven-day rolling average of added cases increased to 2.3 on Tuesday from 1.4 on Monday.

Seventh Oconee County Death Due To COVID-19 Reported By Department Of Public Health

***Oglethorpe Adds Death In Monday Report As Well***

Oconee and Oglethorpe counties each added a death attributed to COVID-19 in the Monday Daily Status Report issued by the Georgia Department of Health, bringing the total number of reported deaths from the disease in each of the counties to seven.

Oconee County’s death was of a female, described as 90 plus years of age and with chronic conditions, while the Oglethorpe death was of a 70-year-old male without known chronic conditions.

One In Five Of Oconee County’s Voters Have Cast In-Person Or Absentee Ballots For June 9 Primary

***Republican Ballots Make Up Two-Thirds Of Those Cast***

With 10 days of early voting completed for the June 9 primary and judicial elections, just more than 20 percent of Oconee County’s 30,457 registered voters have cast a ballot, either in person or by returning an Absentee ballot.

Republican ballots continue to dominate.

Of the 980 In-Person ballots cast by the end of the day on Saturday, 88.8 percent were in the Republican Primary, and of the 5,188 Absentee ballots returned as of the end of the day on Saturday, 66.2 percent were for the Republican Primary.

Northeast Health District Adds Only Two Confirmed COVID-19 Cases In Sunday Daily Status Report

***No New Deaths Recorded***

Clarke and Elbert counties where the only counties in the 10-county Northeast Health District to add a confirmed COVID-19 case in the Daily Status Report on Sunday as the area experienced a lull in the growth of cases.

Even with the addition of just the two cases, the seven-day rolling average of added cases dropped only from 38.4 on Saturday to 36.6 on Sunday because Sundays traditionally have been days on which few cases are added in the District.

Extra Special People Releases In Virtual Meeting New Plans For Miracle League Field And Playground At Harris Shoals Park

***Splash Pad, Second Park Entrance Eliminated***

Extra Special People, in a virtual meeting on Friday, released to the public greatly revised plans for its proposed development of a part of Harris Shoals Park in collaboration with the city of Watkinsville.

Retained in those plans is a Miracle League Field, which is a ball field that can be used by people in wheelchairs, but gone are the originally proposed splash pad, additional park entrance off Experiment Station Road, and increased parking.