Here’s the breakdown of coronavirus in Georgia as state exceeds 41,000 cases Friday

The Georgia Department of Public Health confirmed 41,482 cases of COVID-19 Friday at 7 p.m., an increase of 355 cases from 9 a.m.

Statewide, 1,808 people have now died from the novel coronavirus, an increase of 25 since Friday morning.

As of May 21, 919 people were currently hospitalized with COVID-19 in Georgia, according to Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency. These do not include patients who are suspected to have the novel coronavirus.

The Georgia Public Health Laboratory and private labs have performed 427,249 coronavirus tests, but at least 57,000 of those are antibody tests.

Viral tests measure current infections while antibody tests check for past likely infections. A positive antibody test by itself is not listed as a confirmed COVID-19 case, state health officials have said.



McClatchy reported Wednesday that the state is including both in the total test counts. Health experts said this has the effect of artificially increasing the number of tests performed, thereby lowering the percentage of positive cases in Georgia. Gov. Brian Kemp and DPH Commissioner Dr. Kathleen Toomey told reporters during a press conference Thursday that the state would own up to any errors it makes in the reporting of coronavirus data and asked for the public to be patient.

State health officials have not provided a breakdown of the residents tested for COVID-19 in each county. The state is also not tracking the number of people who have recovered from COVID-19.

For 2,496 cases, the state is reporting the counties as “unknown.” The person may be homeless, or medical professionals may not have entered the person’s county of residence into the state’s electronic database, health officials have previously said.

The state health department also reported that 1,748 non-Georgia residents tested positive for COVID-19. State health officials previously said these numbers account for out-of-state residents whose healthcare provider is located in Georgia.

Breakdown by County

This story was originally published May 22, 2020 at 10:11 AM with the headline "Here’s the breakdown of coronavirus in Georgia as state exceeds 41,000 cases Friday."

Nick Wooten

Columbus Ledger-Enquirer

Nick Wooten is the Accountability/Investigative reporter for the Ledger-Enquirer where he is responsible for covering several topics, including Georgia politics. His work may also appear in the Macon Telegraph. Nick was given the Georgia Press Association’s 2021 Emerging Journalist award for his coverage of elections, COVID-19 and Columbus’ LGBTQ+ community. Before joining McClatchy, he worked for The (Shreveport La.) Times covering city government and investigations. He is a graduate of Mercer University in Macon, Georgia.