Area Hospitals Report Largest Number Of COVID-19 Patients Ever

Oconee GA

15 December, 2020

12:02 AM

Description

The Department of Public Health added 202 new COVID-19 cases in the Northeast Health District on Monday, and the Georgia Hospital Association reported that area hospitals added 29 new COVID-19 patients. The Georgia Hospital Association (GHA) and the Georgia Emergency Management Agency (GEMA) reported that the number of COVID-19 patients at Region E hospitals reached 173, the largest number ever reported going back to May 8, when those data were first made public. The previous high was 152 on Dec. 8 and then 143 on Aug. 4 and 5. Region E is centered in Clarke County and consists of the 10 counties in the Northeast Health District plus Franklin and Hart counties. The Georgia Hospital Association reported that the number of ICU beds in use (67) decreased by seven from the day before, and that the number of adult ventilators in use (28) was the same as the day before. The Department of Public Health Daily Status Report reported one death from COVID-19--of an 18-year-old Madison County male without a known chronic condition. The death brings to 16 the number attributed to the disease in the county and to 371 the number attributed to the disease in the Northeast Health District. The seven-day rolling average of added deaths attributed to the disease based on the official death figures from the Department of Public Health dropped to 1.4 on Monday from 1.6 on Sunday. The Department of Community Health, in its Long-Term Care Facility Report on Monday, also listed two deaths at long-term care facilities in the Northeast Health District. One of those was at The Oaks–Athens Skilled Nursing Home in Clarke County, the first at the facility. The other was at Park Place Nursing Facility in Walton County, the 24th at that home. The Department of Public Health Daily Status Report listed 193 cases based on molecular tests and nine cases identified via antigen tests. The seven-day rolling average of added cases based on a combination of these two tests was 318.4 on Monday, down from 329.4 on Sunday. Oconee County added 12 cases based on the molecular tests and no cases based on the antigen tests. Clarke County added 24 cases based on molecular tests and an additional case based on the rapid antigen tests. The seven-day rolling average of added cases based on a combination of these two tests was 15.6 in Oconee County on Monday, down from 17.0 on Sunday, and 65.6 in Clarke County, down from 68.3 on Sunday. The Department of Community Health also reported 10 new cases of COVID-19 among residents of the Northeast Health District's long-term care facilities and eight cases of COVID-19 among staff at long-term care facilities in the Northeast Health District. For more local reporting and for state data, please click through to Oconee County Observations.