80% of new COVID-19 cases in Baldwin Co. are young adults. Here’s more Middle GA data

A recent spike in COVID-19 cases in Baldwin County mostly consists of 18-24 year olds, according to the North Central Health District.

The NCHD, in its most recent operations summary, noted 80% of new cases in the county were among college-aged young people. Baldwin County saw a 105% increase in new COVID-19 cases between the current and previous two-week periods. The current two-week rate was 1,075 per 100,000 population from Aug. 17-30. The previous two-week rate was 524 from Aug. 10-23..

Georgia College and State University in Baldwin County has reported 663 COVID-19 cases since June 18; 522 students cases occurred during the current period, which runs from Aug. 17- Aug 30. In addition, three employees also had reported cases. NCHD recently began adding college student positive test results to the county totals where they attend college, if they live on campus, rather than their home county.

Since the beginning of September, Georgia College reported 63 new student cases and six new employee cases. With fewer than 8,000 students, that gives Georgia College one of the worst college case rates in the country.

Georgia College didn’t test students, faculty or staff before they returned to campus earlier this summer and there have been complaints about a lack of social distancing and limited virtual education options from some students and employees, who participated in a “die-in” last month to criticize administration decisions.

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.

Here are key takeaways:

Cases: 15,971 (+835 reported since Wednesday, Sept. 2). Bibb County has recorded the most positive cases with 5,431.

Deaths: 470 (+33 reported since Wednesday, Sept. 2). 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 4,182. Bibb is next with 3,693 cases per 100,000 people. Crawford has one of the lowest rates in the state, with 1,324 per 100,000.

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

• Bibb 5,619 cases - 142 deaths

• Houston 2,814 - 73

• Baldwin 1,858 - 55

• Laurens 1,455 - 52

• Washington 631 - 7

• Monroe 616 - 44

• Peach 594 - 18

• Jones 498 - 4

• Bleckley 398- 17

• Dodge 356 - 9

• Wilkinson 305 - 17

• Pulaski 279 - 11

• Macon 214 - 10

• Twiggs 172 - 7

• Crawford 162 - 4

The state reported 2,081 new cases across the state and 60 new deaths Wednesday.

Federal and county information

In Monroe County, a transportation department Monroe County School District employee reported a positive test. A group of students and several other employees are being quarantined because of the positive test.

The employee drove a bus route for special needs students for several different schools in the area.

The Community Empowerment Center Inc. is partnering with local churches to provide COVID-19 tests from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. IDs are required and it is on a first-come, first-serve basis. The tests have no out of pocket costs and no insurance checks are done.

• Thursday at First Baptist Church 210 Garmon St. in Warner Robins.
• Friday at Community Church of God 5555 Bethesda Ave. in Macon.
• Saturday at Houston Mt. Zion Baptist Church 603 Highway 96 in Bonaire.

According to the Georgia Department of Health, the seven-day average of new cases reported is down by 11.7% from Sept. 1 through Sept 8. This is down 48% from the state’s peak on July 24. The highest percentage of cases are in large counties in the metro Atlanta area. These counties have seen decreases in recent weeks. The state reported over 2.5 million COVID-19 tests as of Sept. 8.

Macon-Bibb County and Warner Robins have both moved from the red zone to the yellow zone, according to the latest report from the White House Coronavirus Task Force.

Dublin remains in the red zone. The state of Georgia is still in the red zone for cases indicating more than 100 new cases per 100,000 population last week. It is the 12th highest in the country. Georgia is in the yellow zone for test positivity between 5% and 10%. It is the 19th highest rate in the country.

Georgia has seen a decrease in new cases and stability in test positivity over the last week. The White House task force said that “progress is evident and needs to continue and ensure no reversal of hard-fought gains.”

75% of all counties in Georgia have moderate or high levels of community transmission in the yellow or red zone. 36% of those are in the red zone.

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

According to the North Central Health District, the COVID-19 incidence rate for Bibb County residents over the most recent reporting period (Aug. 17-30) was 285 cases per 100,000 residents. The previous two-week incidence rate was 384 per 100,000. This is down 52% from the previous two week period. From Aug. 17-30, 94% 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.

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.