Georgia surpasses 5,000 COVID-19 deaths
ATLANTA - Georgia has reached a grim milestone in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
The Georgia Department of Publich Health on Saturday reported that the number of deaths since the pandemic began had surpassed 5,000.
As of the 2:50 p.m. update on Aug. 22, there have been 252,222 total confirmed cases, 2,361 people currently hospitalized and 5,092 deaths in Georgia.
So far, the state has conducted 2,149,170 viral tests.
The news comes as a second rural Georgia hospital announced its closure, citing financial losses.
Northridge Medical Center in Commerce announced this week that it will close on Oct. 31.
Spokesperson Amy Abel told WDUN-AM that as many as 78 employees could be laid off as the 90-bed hospital in northeast Georgia closes. However, Abel said that Ethica Health & Retirement Communities was trying to place as many people as possible in the adjoining 167-bed nursing home.
Southwest Georgia Regional Medical Center in Cuthbert announced in July that it would close Oct. 22. The Randolph County Hospital Authority, which owns that hospital, said the hospital was running out of money and would be unable to make payroll if it continued to operate. The authority had sought to borrow $10 million for renovations, but couldn’t secure the money.
Southwest Georgia Regional Medical Center has been managed by Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital since 1996. The Albany-based health system says it’s trying to offer jobs elsewhere to as many of the hospital’s 50 workers as possible.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp defended his administration’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic after a report from the White House coronavirus task force said Georgia led the nation last week in new cases per capita.
Kemp was among the first governors to ease earlier restrictions this spring, and while infections declined for weeks afterwards, they began to rise in June and peaked in late July.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.