Health officials verify almost 700 Macon COVID-19 cases from last week’s ‘data dump’

Georgia health officials announced that almost 700 of the COVID-19 cases reported in Bibb County on Aug. 24 are legitimate.

Last week, health providers reported thousands of coronavirus cases to the Georgia Department of Public Health in what health officials termed a “data dump,” that took a week and a half to unravel. The local branch of the health department, the North Central Health District, verified 1,023 of the cases while discovering 381 duplicates.

The 697 cases reported in Macon on Aug. 24 represents a record number of new cases reported on a single day for Bibb County.

The final number of new cases reported between 9. pm. Aug. 23 and 2 p.m. on Aug. 24 was 1,023. The following is a breakdown of that data by county:

• Baldwin 72
• Crawford 8
• Hancock 3
• Houston 81
• Jasper 4
• Jones 37
• Bibb 697
• Monroe 40
• Peach 33
• Putnam 19
• Twiggs 9
• Washington 3
• Wilkinson 17

“Cases included in the table do not represent only those reported in the data dump, which included new cases from tests dating back to mid-June,” according to NCHD. “The table is a total of new cases reported during the stated time period from all testing providers.”

Middle Georgia cases

The Georgia Department of Public Health reported 15,136 cumulative COVID-19 cases in Middle Georgia in its 3 p.m. update Wednesday. NCHD also announced this week that it is now adding university students who live on campus who test positive to the counties in which they attend school, not their home county.

Here are key takeaways:

Cases: 15,136 (+1,021 reported since Wednesday, Aug. 19). Bibb County has recorded the most positive cases with 5,431. According to NCHD, the count is now accurate following last week’s addition of 21,000 cases in a data dump.

Deaths: 437 (+57 reported since Wednesday, Aug. 19). It’s important to note that these numbers indicate when deaths are reported to the Georgia Department of Public Health. It does not reflect when these deaths occurred.

Cases per person: Baldwin County has the most cases per 100,000 with 3,860. Bibb is next with 3,569 cases per 100,000 people. Crawford has one of the lowest rates in the state, with 1,243 per 100,000.

New cases notes: Baldwin County reported 205 new cases week-over-week, up to 1,715 cases from 1,510 cases last week.

COVID-19 patients in local hospitals: Coliseum Health System is treating 27 COVID positive patients. Navicent Health is not releasing the number of COVID-19 patients treated at its Medical Center. The health department is not reporting how many Georgians have recovered.

The following is a breakdown of cumulative cases and deaths for counties in Middle Georgia.

• Bibb 5,431 cases - 130 deaths

• Houston 2,670 - 70

• Baldwin 1,715 - 52

• Laurens 1,350 - 48

• Washington 616 - 5

• Monroe 593 - 43

• Peach 572 - 17

• Jones 459 - 4

• Bleckley 359 - 17

• Dodge 334 - 7

• Wilkinson 289 - 17

• Pulaski 224- 7

• Macon 207 - 10

• Twiggs 165 - 7

• Crawford 152- 3

The state reported 2,021 new cases across the state and 68 new deaths Wednesday.

FEDERAL AND COUNTY DATA

White House coronavirus task force report: According to a weekly White House report, Georgia continues to be a COVID-19 red zone for cases, which means the state is reporting more than 100 new cases per 100,000.

The state is now in the yellow zone for test positivity as Georgia has improved in the number of tests performed and test positivity rate and has experienced a decline in new cases. Georgia’s new cases per 100,000 residents declined 11.2% last week. Despite the gains, however, the report indicates that Georgia is still above the national average. Georgia had 148 new cases per 100,000 people last week, compared to a national average of 88 per 100,000.

At the county level, Bibb County has reported one of the highest rates of new cases over the past three weeks. Both Macon, Warner Robins and Milledgeville are a red zone, according to the report. The task force recommends that residents in a red zone implement the following measures:

• Wear a mask at all times outside the home and maintain physical distance
• Limit social gatherings to 10 people or fewer
• Do not go to bars, nightclubs, or gyms
• Use take out or eat outdoors socially distanced
• Protect anyone with serious medical conditions at home by social distancing at home and using high levels of personal hygiene, including handwashing and cleaning surfaces
• Reduce your public interactions and activities to 25% of your normal activity

North Central Health District weekly summary: According to the NCHD’s weekly report, the COVID-19 incidence rate for Bibb County residents over the most recent reporting period (Aug. 10-23) was 384 cases per 100,000 residents. The previous two-week incidence rate was 622 per 100,000. From Aug. 10-23, 95% of cases were linked to community spread, and not a specific outbreak. The vast majority of cases linked to outbreaks were associated with congregate care settings, such as nursing homes.

Baldwin County experienced a large increase in new COVID-19 cases per 100,00 from 444 to 970, up by 119%.

The North Central Health District covers 13 counties, including Macon-Bibb, Houston and Peach. It also includes the following colleges and universities Georgia College, Fort Valley State, Mercer and Middle Georgia State University.