SGMC: Virus patients rise to double digits, again

Dean Poling, The Valdosta Daily Times, Ga.
·2 min read

Jun. 6—VALDOSTA — South Georgia Medical Center reported double-digit COVID-19 hospitalizations for the first time in nearly three months going into the past weekend.

SGMC reported 10 virus patients hospitalized Friday, June 3; it was still at 10 COVID-19 patients Monday. The last time that SGMC reported 10 hospitalized virus patients was March 20.

SGMC reported zero patients back on April 8, which was the first time in more than two years, March 17, 2020, since the start of the pandemic, that the medical center had no virus-related patients hospitalized.

The hospital has reported 531 virus-related deaths since the start of the pandemic, which is the same number reported a week ago.

Lowndes County has reported 281 virus-related deaths since the start of the pandemic, which has remained unchanged for several weeks now. Not all SGMC patients are Lowndes County residents.

The SGMC patient number was at 50 hospitalized COVID-19 patients at the end of February. The number of hospitalized SGMC virus patients reached a high of 112 during the omicron variant.

The record high during the past two years of the pandemic was 113 patients reported hospitalized Aug. 22, 2021, during the delta variant surge at the hospital.

SGMC had reported COVID-19 patients in the low single digits at Christmas rising to triple digits within a few weeks of the new year.

SGMC has discharged 3,158 COVID-19 patients throughout the pandemic.

Lowndes County has reported more than 15,510 COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic, which is a rise of about 60 cases since a week ago and has reported 281 virus-related deaths, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health. More than 15,921 antigen cases have been reported; antigen cases are results from rapid virus tests.

Statewide, Georgia has reported about 1,993,000 cases since the start of the pandemic, with about 31,836 virus-related deaths — which is about 36 more deaths statewide in the past week, according to the GDPH.