COVID cases increase but hospitalizations drop this week, plus more Middle GA stats

While local health departments, private pharmacies and hospitals are vaccinating tens of thousands of Georgians each week against COVID-19, cases, deaths and hospitalizations continue to fluctuate in Middle Georgia as people’s habits change and new variants spread. The Telegraph will publish regular updates to track these changes with weekly and biweekly averages.

COVID-19 cases

• 2,819: The current 7-day moving average of new coronavirus cases in Georgia, down by 425 cases from last week and a mid-January peak of more than 9,000 cases a day, according to data from the New York Times.
• 76: The average new COVID-19 cases in Bibb County over the past week, the highest rate in Middle Georgia. This is up by 45 from last week. Houston County is the second-highest with 65.
• 962,328: The number of coronavirus cases reported in Georgia since March. This is up by 19,816 from last week.

Coronavirus-related deaths

• 123: The daily average in deaths for the last seven days in Georgia. This is up by 13 from last week.
• 2: The daily average of deaths in Bibb County over the past week, the most in Middle Georgia, up by 0.6 from last week. Houston County has an average of two per day over the last week, this is up by a little over one from last week.
• 16,313: The cumulative total of deaths in Georgia since the beginning of the pandemic, up by 862 from last week.

Hospitalizations

• 2,760: The number of Georgians hospitalized with COVID-19 on Feb. 15, contributing to an average of 2,966 over the past week. The average is down by 375 people from last week.

• 28%: The percentage decline in people hospitalized due to the coronavirus over the past two weeks, down from a mid-January high of more than 6,100 patients.

• 9.2%: The average number of COVID-19 tests coming back as positive over the past week, down by .3% from last week. According to the CDC, the goal should be less than 5%. This indicates that not enough people are being tested. Georgia tested an average of 26,658 people a day over the same time period. Bibb County is currently at 10.8%.

Vaccine updates

• 1.79 million: The number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered by the state since December. This is up by over 390,000 from last week.
• 9,800: The number of vaccine doses requested by the Bibb County Health Department, an increase of 2,000 from last week. The department has only received 5,900 doses, according to the vaccine order list from the Georgia Department of Health. This is an increase of 1,500 doses from last week. Health departments in the North Central Health District, which covers 13 Middle Georgia counties, have routinely received fewer doses than requested since the vaccine was made available to the state’s over 2,100 enrolled providers.

• 21,264: The number of vaccines administered in Bibb County according to the Georgia Department of Health’s vaccine dashboard. This is up by 2,592. There have been 13,777 first doses and 7,487 second doses.

• Vaccine access: Atrium Health Navicent has partnered with the Macon Housing Authority (MHA) to provide on-site COVID-19 vaccination services for senior residents. These residents may not have been able to get the vaccine otherwise due to lack of transportation and other social determinants. More than 40 residents received vaccines last Friday as part of the program.

This story was originally published February 24, 2021 at 12:00 AM.