Atlanta – The Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) is providing the following information regarding the fight against COVID-19 in Georgia:

 

Positive Indicators

COVID-19 Cases

  • During 8/10-8/17, our weekly statewide case numbers decreased by 11%.
  • The seven-day average of new cases reported is down 30% from our peak July 24
  • The highest % of case numbers still come from the high population counties in metro Atlanta (Fulton, Gwinnett, DeKalb, Cobb have the highest case numbers, as before)but these counties are actually experiencing 20-30 % decreases in case numbers.            

Testing

  • As of Aug. 21, the state reported over 2 million COVID-19 tests.
  • DPH is operating 184 SPOCs, including mobile and pop-up locations statewide.
  • The number of specimens collected at DPH SPOCs has now passed 833,000

We are expanding the media campaign to encourage people to get tested for COVID-19 at the airport SPOC location. Digital billboards will be up in both directions of 1-85 near the Riverdale Road exit promoting the site along with radio spots to run in the metro area.

Positivity Rate

The positivity rates (7-day moving average) for PCR testing have decreased from 12.2% on 8/7/20 to 10.3% on 8/14/20 to 9.4% on 8/21/20. Georgia has now moved from the “high” PCR positivity rate category to “moderate.”

Hospitalizations

Daily hospitalizations have decreased 10.5% since Aug.14. Down 24.75% since a daily high of 3,200 July 30.

 

8/14   2,691

8/15   2,586

8/16   2,603

8/17   2,626

8/18   2,596

8/19   2,573

8/20   2,512

8/21   2,408

 

Emergency Department Visits

Emergency Department (ED) visits related to COVID-19 are slightly decreasing and ILI visits are slightly decreasing.

 

Areas of Concern

Increasing Outbreaks

Aug. 6-12: 106

These outbreaks are occurring in settings where people are physically congregating and underscore the need for distancing and source control.

  • Long-term care facilities  28
  • Schools/school athletic teams  26
  • Prisons/jails  12
  • Offices/workplaces  8
  • Churches  7
  • Manufacturing facilities  4
  • Day Care Centers  3

Outbreaks were also documented in hospitals/outpatient facilities, hospitals and senior living facilities.

Emerging Hotspots

  • We see growth and/or high transmission in rural middle GA, east central GA, south Georgia and SW Georgia. These increases are driven by ongoing community transmission as well as outbreaks.
  • The CDC report indicates that we have seen a downward trajectory of cases for less than a week now.
  • Although our case numbers are decreasing slowly, they are at a very high plateau (magnitudes above where we were in the spring), so this still represents a risk of future increased transmission and even spikes.

For updates on COVID-19, follow @GaDPH and @GovKemp on Twitter and @GaDPH and @GovKemp on Facebook.

 

For information about COVID-19, visit https://dph.georgia.gov/novelcoronavirus or https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html.