Georgia COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations rise again

ATLANTA – COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations proceed to emergence rapidly successful Georgia, with immoderate hospitals voicing interest arsenic they capable with patients infected with the virus.

The authorities Department of Public Health connected Tuesday reported 9,100 caller affirmative tests but said that fig included caller reports dating backmost until Friday that hadn’t been included due to the fact that of information transportation problems with physics reporting.

With the information dump, the state’s seven-day mean roseate supra 4,000 cases, astir 11 times higher than erstwhile cases bottomed retired successful precocious June. The existent seven-day mean is the highest since Feb. 10, and higher than Georgia’s highest successful July 2020. The state’s rolling mean peaked supra 9,500 successful mid-January.

Hospitalizations besides continued their accelerated increase, climbing supra 2,600 statewide connected Tuesday. Statewide, 26 hospitals reported to the Georgia Coordinating Center that they were turning distant each patients oregon caller intensive attraction patients, including 7 of 11 hospitals successful the Piedmont strategy and fractional of the 10 hospitals successful the Wellstar system.

Ad

Dr. Alan Brown, main aesculapian serviceman of the Brunswick-based Southeast Georgia Health System, told The Brunswick News that the contagious delta variant and debased vaccination rates person led to the system’s hospitals having 10 to 20 times arsenic galore patients arsenic they had successful aboriginal July.

“At this rate, we’ll soon beryllium facing capableness challenges, not lone for diligent beds but besides for nursing teams who attraction for our patients,” Brown said, calling the accent connected employees “disheartening.”

Chaplain Will Runyon, a chaplain astatine Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital successful Albany, which was the epicenter of microorganism infections and deaths aboriginal successful the pandemic, told Georgia Public Broadcasting the debased vaccination complaint successful South Georgia is frustrating

“If you told maine a twelvemonth ago, ‘Hey, we’re going to person a vaccine by December and it’s going to beryllium a large vaccine,’ I would person said we’ll person this happening buried by summer,” Runyon said. “But what we’re seeing contiguous is highly disappointing. And I would archer you, radical are present angry.”

Ad

Dr. Stephen Thacker, subordinate main aesculapian serviceman astatine Memorial Health successful Savannah, told WTOC-TV the infirmary is relying connected declaration nurses to capable staff. He said the infirmary is not yet astatine a “tipping point’' but warns that determination could beryllium weeks much of expanding cases.

“We’re decidedly bumping up to the constraints of conscionable the fig of patients that request attraction successful the portion with the fig of beds that we have, you cognize balancing that with the magnitude of staffing that we have,” Thacker said.

Georgia has recorded astir 1.2 cardinal affirmative COVID-19 tests and astir 22,000 deaths from associated respiratory illness.

Douglas County became the latest nationalist schoolhouse territory to denote it would necessitate masks successful each its schools. At slightest 25 of Georgia’s 180-plus schoolhouse districts person announced they volition necessitate masks for each students and employees careless of whether they person been vaccinated. That radical covers much than a 3rd of Georgia’s 1.7 cardinal nationalist schoolhouse students.

Ad

A fewer schools person postponed the commencement of people districtwide oregon successful idiosyncratic schools due to the fact that of COVID-19 exposure.

Fort Benning, arsenic with galore different national facilities, has re-imposed disguise requirements indoors erstwhile connected base. The fort is besides limiting attendance astatine graduations.

Copyright 2021 by Associated Press and WJXT News4Jax - All rights reserved.