Current Coronavirus Hospitalizations Continue To Fall In Georgia
ATLANTA, GA — The Georgia Department of Public Health reported 668 new cases of the coronavirus Sunday afternoon, bringing the cumulative total to 42,838. Of those testing positive, 7,439 were admitted to the hospital, including 1,683 in intensive care, and 1,824 have died. To date, 848 people are hospitalized in Georgia.
The number of currently hospitalized patients continues to fall. On Tuesday, 986 current hospitalizations marked the lowest number of COVID-19 positive patients hospitalized since hospitals started reporting data to the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency on April 8. Those record lows changed to 959 on Wednesday, 919 on Thursday, 889 on Friday and 848 since Saturday. Despite current hospitalizations remaining unchanged, cumulative hospitalizations increased by 28 from Saturday to Sunday afternoon.
As of 1 p.m. Sunday, there have been 481,954 tests completed, an increase of 28,417 since Saturday. Approximately 8.9 percent of molecular and serological tests statewide have come back positive overall.
Counties largely around metro Atlanta continue to have the highest number of cases. Fulton County leads the state with 4,004 confirmed cases, followed by DeKalb with 3,165, Gwinnett with 3,039, Cobb with 2,696, Hall with 2,322, Dougherty with 1,727 and Clayton with 1,119. There have been 196 deaths reported in Fulton County, followed by Cobb with 142, Dougherty with 139 Gwinnett with 122 and DeKalb with 102.
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Although Georgia's reopening began about a month ago, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has released a five-phase reopening plan for the city based on metrics such as trends of new COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. Bottoms did not announce an exact reopening date, but she said the city could transition from the stay-at-home phase to "easing" phase this week. This phase allows private gatherings of 10 or less people as well as to-go and curbside pickup from retail but does not open City Hall.
City officials have created a COVID-19 Atlanta Reopening Dashboard with updates on the reopening metrics. Data shows new cases are approaching a 14-day downward trend needed for the phase one target. Positive tests have also been trending down. Officials are monitoring a slight upward trend of hospitalizations since May 13, although the number remains below the May 1 peak.
The Georgia Department of Health now offers downloadable spreadsheets on its COVID-19 landing page with some of the data on total numbers. The state updates its coronavirus numbers at least twice a day, with overall status reports posted on the website at 9 a.m., 1 p.m., and 7 p.m. daily.
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This article originally appeared on the Atlanta Patch
