Habersham County is at its largest seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases of the entire pandemic, according to data from the Department of Public Health.
There were 155 cases reported Sept. 2, more than doubling the previous high for a single day. With 91 cases over Labor Day weekend and another 43 on Tuesday, the moving average is up to 52 cases per day, surpassing the previous high from Dec. 22, 2020 (42) when vaccines were not yet available.
On July 1, Habersham County was essentially at zero positive cases.
Kesha Clinkscale, vice president for culture and wellness for Habersham Medical Center, said the majority of their admitted patients are positive with COVID-19.
From Aug. 3 through Sept. 6, Habersham Medical treated 2,492 patients in its Emergency Department. Of those, 524 patients (20.1% of the total census) tested positive for COVID-19, 102 of those patients were admitted into the hospital and 90 were unvaccinated (88%).
As of Tuesday, there are 35 admitted patients on the medical surgical floor, with four in ICU, all of whom are COVID-19 positive.
In Habersham County, there have been 32,278 vaccines administered resulting in 40 percent of residents getting at least one dose. As of Tuesday, 34 percent of county residents were fully vaccinated, as that number continued to hover around one-third of the county.
There were 515 new positive COVID-19 cases reported in the last two weeks.
As of Friday, Habersham County Schools had 58 active student cases and 32 active staff cases, with five additional non-school staff cases.
There were 56 students in quarantine due to close contact. Vaccinated students do not have to quarantine if they do not have symptoms.
Despite the surge in cases in Habersham County at large, Superintendent Matthew Cooper has been adamant that schools will remain open as long as there are bus drivers to transport students and nutrition workers to feed them.
Tallulah Falls returned to school Tuesday after going virtual for the last six school days.
“As we return to class, we will continue to take a layered approach to prevention protocols – using thermal scanners, practicing diligence in hand sanitizing, physical distancing when possible and requiring masks on buses,” Head of School Dr. Larry Peevy said.
In addition, students and staff will be required to wear masks indoors where physical distancing cannot take place.
“To facilitate this, students will be asked to have a mask available and ready for use,” Peevy said.
Peevy also asked that parents keep their children home if they have symptoms associated with COVID-19.