White House COVID-19 report shows Georgia ‘in a vulnerable position,’ expert says
The White House coronavirus task force warns that recent Georgia data shows “early signs” of a worsening situation as virus mitigation efforts decreased over the last month.
The report — published by the Center For Public Integrity, a non-profit newsroom based in Washington D.C. — states Georgia continues to see increases in COVID-19 cases and test positivity. There were no declines in new hospital admissions week over week. That suggests “early and expanding community spread” of the novel coronavirus, according to the federal report.
Georgia reported 9,923 COVID-19 cases from Oct. 17-23, at a rate of 93 confirmed infections per 100,000 people. That was the 34th highest rate in the country and placed the state in the orange zone for cases. It was an increase of 13% from the week before.
Georgia remained below the national average for COVID-19 cases which was 133 per 100,000 people. In mid-August, Georgia led the nation in new cases per capita.
“We’re in a vulnerable position right now,” said Dr. Amber Schmidtke, a member of the Georgia COVID-19 data advisory task force, in an interview with McClatchy about the report. “We were looking really good after the summer surge. ...But we’ve bottomed out, and we’re seeing increases again.”
The percentage of Georgia’s positive coronavirus tests also increased slightly to 6.4% from Oct. 15-21, up by .5% from the week before. Nearly 60% of Georgia’s counties reported moderate to high levels of community transmission with 21% of them being in the red zone. More than 80% of Georgia hospitals reported having fewer than three days worth of N95 masks, surgical gowns and gloves, according to the task force report.
What recommendations does the task force make?
Primary recommendations from the task force include stepping up mitigation efforts in counties where coronavirus cases are increasing, like mask wearing, physical distancing and avoiding crowds in public and social gatherings.
Other recommended measures include:
Ensuring K-12 schools are following CDC guidelines, including mask usage and routinely testing teachers with Abbott BinaxNOW rapid tests.
Having college students continue their mitigation efforts as testing continues to find fewer cases.
Ensuring all nursing homes, assisted living and elderly care sites have full testing capacity and are isolating positive staff and residents.
Encouraging outdoor activities and ensure mask and physical distancing messages for all Georgia residents, both in public and private spaces to prevent household spread.
Gatherings of family and friends are causing community spread, and people must remember that seemingly uninfected people may have the virus. Unmasking at private gatherings could lead to exposure, the report states.
Schmidtke, the data advisory board member, said it’s important Georgia residents take their own coronavirus precautions.
“This is a team effort,” she said. “We all need to be limiting our transmissions as much as we can through things like wearing a mask.
“We need to be creative about coming up with ways for people to gather safely. ...When things get so hard, people just stop,” she added. “Especially with some of the stuff coming up like Halloween and the holidays, we’re already in sort of this vulnerable position. But I have a feeling in the next few weeks, things are going to get much worse. I think we all need to have (backup plans) for what Thanksgiving and Christmas are going to look like.”
Cody Hall, a spokesperson for Gov. Brian Kemp, and Nancy Nydam, a spokesperson for the Georgia Department of Public Health, did not say if state officials would implement more stringent restrictions.
“The prevention messages are the same — wear a mask, social distance, wash your hands, follow the guidance of public health and the guidelines set forth in the Governor’s Executive Order,” Nydam said in an email. “People should avoid large gatherings and crowds — especially as the weather gets cooler and more and more activities move indoors.”
Nydam also stressed the importance of getting a flu shot and the need for Georgia residents to participate in the state’s coronavirus contact tracing efforts.
The most recent data
The Georgia Department of Public Health reported 1,734 new COVID-19 cases and 34 deaths in its Wednesday update. A total of 355,025 cases and 7,876 deaths have been confirmed since the start of the pandemic.
Georgia’s 7-day average for confirmed infections is around 1,650, the highest it has been since late June — just before Georgia’s summer surge. From Oct. 20-26, the seven-day average for new cases reported went up by 15%, according to a state health department report.
Muscogee County reported the most new COVID-19 cases in west central Georgia on Wednesday with 16. The county reported no new deaths.
This story was originally published October 29, 2020 at 6:50 AM with the headline "White House COVID-19 report shows Georgia ‘in a vulnerable position,’ expert says."