Bibb County reports record number of new COVID-19 cases as critical care beds fill up
Over the last 24 hours, Bibb County saw its largest spike in new COVID-19 cases, with 170 new cases reported.
According to the latest information from the Georgia Department of Public Health, 170 new cases were reported in Bibb County since 3 p.m. on Monday, with cumulative cases rising to 1,895. The previous record was 136 new cases on July 8.
The spike in cases comes as Bibb County announced it would be implement additional preventive measures to slow the spread of COVID-19, including:
- All people visiting government offices should call ahead to make appointments. Masks are strongly encouraged before entering any of the buildings.
- Park pavilions, sports fields, basketball courts, and playgrounds will be closed. Open spaces like parks and trails will remain open because people are able to socially distance.
- Departments and offices will implement telework and stagger schedules to cut down on interactions between people.
- Desks for people that interact with the public will have plexiglass barriers installed.
- New special events permits will not be issued.
- Increasing cleaning of public park bathrooms
This will impact services across Bibb County as access to offices will be limited.
“As we move forward together through this challenging time, we ask for your patience and understanding with each other,” said county manager Keith Moffett. “We will continue providing essential and needed services, but this will impact how quickly we can respond to requests.”
Critical care beds
Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency released new information on Tuesday about critical care beds available in the state. Region H, which includes several Middle Georgia counties including Bleckley, Twiggs and Laurens, has just one critical care bed available with 39 of their 40 beds currently in use. In region F, which includes Bibb and Houston, there are 18 available critical care beds out of 224.
The state currently has over 80% of its critical care beds in use according to the latest data, with just 449 critical care beds currently available.