Georgia county commissioner dies from coronavirus at 82
Commissioner James Holmes (Chatham County)
SAVANNAH, Ga. - A longtime county commissioner in Georgia died Monday after more than two weeks in the hospital battling the coronavirus.
Chatham County Commissioner James Holmes of Savannah was 82. His wife, Yvonne Holmes, confirmed his death to news outlets. She said her husband had been hospitalized with COVID-19 since July 30.
“This is something of a reminder, and I don’t think we need this occasion to remind folks of it, of how serious the coronavirus really is,” Al Scott, chairman of the Chatham County Commission, told reporters at a news conference.
Holmes was a former high school basketball coach who had also worked as an assistant coach at Savannah State University. Scott said that Holmes planned to leave office at the end of the year after serving on the commission since 2005.
At least 4,727 deaths in Georgia have been linked to the coronavirus, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health. As of Monday, more than 238,800 infections had been confirmed statewide.