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COVID-19
Habersham County’s reported cases shot up to 44 by Wednesday evening, and the Georgia Department of Public Health reported the county’s second death as a 40-year-old woman with underlying health problems.
A 79-year-old woman, also with previous health issues, died last week. Neither patient died at Habersham Medical Center, CEO Lynn Boggs said Wednesday.
Further information about the person who passed was not available at press time. DPH does not release details about specific patients as a matter of policy.
As of DPH’s Wednesday evening update, Georgia had 15,260 positive cases with 3,006 hospitalized and 576 deaths.
Center for Disease Control Director Robert Redfield confirmed that new data indicates that as many as 25% of individuals infected with COVID-19 remain asymptomatic. Additionally, science also now informs us that individuals who are symptomatic, are infectious up to 48 hours before symptoms appear. This new information tells the health care community, medical researchers, public health and governments why COVID-19 is spreading so rapidly.
“Until now, containing the spread of COVID-19 has been based on early detection and isolation of people with symptoms of the virus,” DPH commissioner Dr. Kathleen E. Toomey. “Social distancing and keeping people apart from each other are now more than just recommendations; they are the best weapons we have to stop the spread of COVID-19.”
The state has also completed roughly 57,000 diagnostic tests, mostly processed in commercial labs. The number of tests has increased substantially in recent days due to tighter coordination between the state health lab and private companies and speedier turnaround times at many local hospitals.
On Monday, Toomey directed regional health departments to expand testing criteria so that tests can be given to more people than only the state’s most at-risk populations.
Tests can now be given to people who do not show symptoms of the virus but who were exposed to others who are showing symptoms, Kemp said. Tests can also be given to people working in certain jobs considered “critical infrastructure” who show symptoms.
By the end of this week, people who fit those criteria and want to be tested can call their local health agency to schedule an appointment and do not need a doctor’s referral first, Toomey said.
“We recognized that we had probably made it a little too hard for people to get in because we were requiring people to get a referral from a physician,” she said.
Habersham County’s health department number is 706-778-7156. Ask to speak to a nurse about COVID-19 testing, and the nurse will review your situation and submit your information for verification.
Public health officials will call you back to arrange an appointment at the site nearest to you.
STATEWIDE UPDATE
State and federal officials are hustling to increase the supply of hospital beds and coronavirus tests in Georgia ahead of an anticipated peak surge in COVID-19 patients in the coming weeks, Gov. Brian Kemp said Monday.
The governor highlighted a push by local hospitals and federal authorities to set up hundreds more beds to handle the patient surge projected for May 1, including 200 intensive care “pods” at the Georgia World Congress Center.
Meanwhile, diagnostic test results “continue to lag” despite a dramatic increase in the number and speed of tests conducted in recent days, Kemp said. More testing will be critical to maintain safety and track possible new outbreaks after people start going back to work, he said.
The combination of more beds and more testing should both bolster the state’s ability to handle the expected hospital surge and help Georgians bounce back more quickly once transmissions of the highly infectious virus begin to subside, Kemp said.
“We need to be firing on all cylinders to prepare for the days and weeks ahead,” Kemp said at a news conference Monday afternoon.
The governor did not speculate on when the state’s shelter-in-place order will ultimately be lifted. The current order is set to run through April, but Kemp has the ability to extend it. He has already done so once.
Based on current forecasting models, Georgia looks to be “in good shape” for a medium-range projection of needed hospital beds, said Georgia National Guard Adj. Gen. Thomas Carden. But the situation would change for the worse if the state approaches higher-range projections for patient surge, he said.
Georgia is currently forecast to fall short by more 200 beds of the roughly 800 ICU beds the state will likely need on May 1, according to a frequently cited model run by the University of Washington.
To date, according to Kemp, Georgia has a statewide inventory among its hospitals and temporary field sites of 2,617 emergency-room beds, 929 critical-care beds and nearly 6,000 general in-patient beds.
The temporary facility being set up at the World Congress Center will act as a “relief valve” for hospital overflow, Carden said.
“I frankly pray that we don’t need it,” Carden said Monday. “But I will tell you that it’s going to be in place and it’s going to be able to support you.”
The governor said other temporary medical units that the state purchased will be ready for use in the coming weeks in Rome, Albany, Gainesville and Macon.
Beau Evans writes for the Capitol Beat News Service, which is funded through the Georgia Press Education Foundation.