Georgia prioritizes coronavirus testing for vulnerable populations, healthcare workers

Georgia officials announced the state will prioritize testing of the new coronavirus for people most vulnerable to COVID-19 and the individuals responsible for caring for them.

The people who will be prioritized for COVID-19 testing are Georgia’s elderly, those with chronic, underlying health conditions, people who live in an assisted living facility or a nursing home and healthcare workers, such as first responders and long-term care facility staffers, according to a statement from Gov. Brian Kemp, the Georgia Department of Public Health and the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency.

“Many Georgians are eager to be tested right now, but we need to be mindful of our resources. We have to be in this fight together,” read the statement.

The reason health officials urge prioritization is to help conserve medical supplies used to treat and prevent the spread of the virus, such as masks, shoe covers and gowns. These supplies are increasingly hard to find for healthcare facilities due to hoarding, export bans and overuse, according to the statement.

People who do not have new coronavirus symptoms and those with mild to moderate cold-like symptoms do not need to be tested for COVID-19, according to the release.

Being diagnosed with COVID-19 does not change the care people with these symptoms would receive, and most people with mild to moderate symptoms can recover at home, according to the release.