Georgia making progress in COVID-19 fight, but challenges remain

ATLANTA - Six months into the pandemic, microbiologist and immunologist Amber Schmidtke, who is breaking down the Georgia numbers for her newsletter and podcast, is seeing some encouraging trends.

The Georgia Department of Public Health reported 2,383 new confirmed cases and 79 deaths Friday, bringing the total number of deaths to 5,471.

There were 208 new hospitalizations reported.

Georgia's positivity rate, or the percentage of people tested who test positive for the virus, is hovering around 10.6%, which is twice the 5% positivity rate the World Health Organization communities reach in order to begin containing the virus.

"Cases are decreasing, and hospitalizations appear to be declining as well," Schmidtke says.  "Our percent positive is also decreasing."

The website covidexitstrategy.org lists Georgia as one of 19 states with "uncontrolled spread," based on the average number of new COVID + cases over the last 14 days.

But, the site also lists Georgia among the states seeing the largest drop in new infections, which are down nearly 29% this week.

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August has been Georgia's toughest month yet, when it comes to COVID-19 deaths, with the state averaging just over 70 deaths each day over the past week.

Schmidtke is also carefully watching Georgia's schools, both K-12 and colleges, and universities, where clusters of cases have been popping up on campuses.

"It's hard to track what's going on with the universities and college campuses, because not everybody is providing data, and it's hard to compare apples to apples," she says.  "We aren't getting a break down of faculty, staff, versus students.  It's a very patchwork system, in terms of what they're reporting, and how many tests are being done."

In Georgia's 632 long-term care facilities, where 2,249 residents have died of coronavirus complications, new infections are down.

But, Schmidtke cautions, Georgia still has twice the national average of facilities reporting at least one COVID-19 case.

Still, she says, we're making headway.

"I just want to point out that we've done that in the absence of a unified strategy," Schmidtke says.  "There was not a social distancing or a large gathering ban.  There was not a statewide mask mandate."

Instead, Schmidtke says, Georgians have taken their own precautions, and it seems to be paying off.

"So, I don't want anyone to every feel like they're powerless in this situation," she says.  "You absolutely can do things to limit the spread of this virus, and I would encourage every Georgian to do so."

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