More Oconee County voters have turned out on each of the first three days of early voting for the Jan. 5 runoff than turned on the first three days of early voting for the Nov. 3 general election, and the total number of votes cast in early voting stands at 4,123, or 12.9 percent of the county’s registered voters.
The number of absentee ballots returned so far (2,153), however, is behind the number received after the first three days of early voting in October for the November election.
The Northeast Health District added 390 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday with the release of the Department of Public Health Daily Status Report, which also listed three deaths in the District attributed to the disease.
The three deaths listed in the Daily Status Report were of an 85-year-old female in Elbert County without a chronic condition, a 28-year-old male in Jackson County without a known chronic condition, and an 83-year-old female in Walton County with a chronic condition.
The Department of Public Health reported a record number of COVID-19 cases–467--in the 10-county Northeast Health District on Tuesday, plus two deaths from the disease.
The Department of Community Health also reported a COVID-19 death at a long-term care facility in the Northeast Health District and a continued outbreak of the disease at Clarke County long-term care homes as well as at these facilities throughout the District.
Oconee County Schools since Friday has notified parents of at least 15 new active cases of COVID-19 at the county’s schools–tying the record number of active cases reported on Friday.
The Department of Public Health added 202 new COVID-19 cases in the Northeast Health District on Monday, and the Georgia Hospital Association reported that area hospitals added 29 new COVID-19 patients.
The Georgia Hospital Association (GHA) and the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) reported that the number of COVID-19 patients at Region E hospitals reached 173, the largest number ever reported going back to May 8, when those data were first made public. The previous high was 152 on Dec. 8 and then 143 on Aug. 4 and 5.
The Northeast Health District added 308 confirmed COVID-19 cases based on molecular tests, according to the Sunday Department of Public Health Daily Status Report, as well as 22 cases based on antigen tests. No new deaths from the disease were listed in the Report.
Based on the combined addition of 330 cases, the seven-day rolling average of added cases increased to 329.1, up from 295.1 average added cases on Saturday.
At the request of the property owner, Oconee County has postponed the public hearing scheduled for Monday on the proposal for a major shopping center at the corner of the Oconee Connector and Mars Hill Road.
Deferred Tax LLC of Lawrenceville, which owns the 47-acres being proposed for development, asked the county to postpone the Planning Commission meeting originally scheduled for Monday until Jan. 19, and the final vote of the Board of Commissioners until Feb. 2.
The Department of Public Health on Saturday reported 245 new cases of COVID-19 in the Northeast Health District based on molecular tests and an additional 43 based on antigen tests. The Report listed no new deaths from the disease in the District.
The combined seven-day rolling average of added cases dropped from 306.4 on Friday to 295.7 on Saturday.
Oconee County added 10 cases based on molecular tests and one based on antigen tests, while Clarke County added 57 cases based on molecular tests and 10 cases based on antigen tests.
