Coronavirus: Georgia Reports Close To 1500 Dead

ATLANTA, GA — The number of Georgia deaths reported from COVID-19 reached nearly 1,500 at midday on Wednesday.

The Georgia Department of Public Health reported 1,480 deaths from COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, at 1 p.m. Wednesday. Only nine other states have reported more deaths.

The latest Georgia numbers also show 35,245 confirmed cases, with 1,480 ICU admissions, 6,228 hospitalizations and 273,904 tests.

The counties with the most confirmed cases are all either in or near metro Atlanta: Fulton with 3,606, DeKalb with 2,619, Gwinnett with 2,505, Cobb with 2,266 and Hall with 2,068.

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Fulton also leads all Georgia counties with the most deaths, 151. Dougherty County in southwest Georgia, site of the state's first major hotspot, is second with 129 deaths. Rounding out the top five are Cobb with 125 deaths, Gwinnett with 101 and DeKalb with 73.

The majority of deaths were among the elderly, with only about 15 percent of the victims younger than 60 and only a handful younger than 30. Deaths were close to evenly split between genders, and nearly two thirds were known to have underlying health conditions.

Statistics also continue to show that minorities — African Americans, Latinos and other Hispanics — are continuing to get sicker and die faster than other ethnic groups.

On Tuesday, Gov. Brian Kemp extended Georgia’s public-health state of emergency through June 12. He also extended the ban on nightclubs, amusement parks, bars and live-performance venues through May 31

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