GA Sees 100 New Coronavirus Deaths As State Touts 'Good Numbers'

GEORGIA — The day after the state touted its "good numbers" for the coronavirus, the state recorded 100 more people have died in Georgia from the virus, including a teen girl.

On Tuesday, Georgia recorded 107 new deaths, 2,236 new cases and 292 new hospitalizations from the coronavirus, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health's website. One of Tuesday's deaths was a 14-year-old female from Habersham County, with preexisting conditions.

In all, Georgia has had 258,354 cases of the coronavirus, 5,262 deaths and 23,717 people hospitalized since March.

In a news release on Monday, titled "DPH Provides Update on COVID-19 Trends in Georgia," the Georgia Department of Public Health reported these "positive indicators":

• Between Aug. 10 and Aug. 17, weekly statewide case numbers decreased by 11 percent.
• The seven-day average of new cases reported is down 30 percent from a peak on July 24.
• While the highest percentage of case numbers still comes from counties in metro Atlanta, those counties are actually experiencing a 20 to 30 percent decrease in case numbers.

Further down in the report, the health department acknowledged "areas of concern," including long-term care facilities and schools, many of which have reopened and then closed over the last few weeks because of COVID-19.

The complete report is posted to the Georgia Department of Public Health's website.

However, on Saturday, Georgia became the 10th state to report more than 5,000 deaths from COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

CORONAVIRUS NUMBERS

Counties in or near metro Atlanta continue to have the highest number of positives, with Fulton County still in the lead.

• Fulton County: 23,987 cases — 162 new
• Gwinnett County: 23,411 cases — 233 new
• Cobb County: 16,144 cases — 89 new
• DeKalb County: 16,086 cases — 82 new
• Hall County: 7,116 cases — 96 new

Counties in or near metro Atlanta also continue to have the most deaths from COVID-19. The lone exception is Dougherty County, site of Georgia's first major outbreak.

• Fulton County: 497 deaths
• Cobb County: 373 deaths
• Gwinnett County: 309 deaths
• DeKalb County: 287 deaths
• Dougherty County: 176 deaths

As of Tuesday, Georgia has administered more than 2.5 million COVID-19 tests.

As more Georgians were tested over the last month, the percentage of positive tests inched upward from about 8 percent to more than 10 percent. However, over the last few weeks, the percentage of positives has stabilized at just more than 10 percent. According to the World Health Organization, positive test results should no more than 5 percent for two weeks before reopening for business as usual. Georgia largely reopened for business in April and May, and since then Gov. Brian Kemp has steadfastly refused to mandate using face masks.

All Georgia statistics are available on the state's COVID-19 website.

Globally, more than 23.7 million people have tested positive for COVID-19, and more than 815,000 people have died from it, Johns Hopkins University reported Tuesday.

In the United States, more than 5.7 million people have been infected and more than 178,000 people have died from COVID-19 as of Tuesday. The U.S. has only about 4 percent of the world's population but more confirmed cases and deaths than any other country.

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