Community COVID transmission rates in Northeast Georgia, like much of the state, have been trending upward this summer. This week, eight of the 13 counties served by District 2 Public Health reported medium community level transmissibility. Dawson and Union counties are among those eight counties. They actually showed a decline in their numbers, dropping from ‘high’ to ‘medium’ transmissibility since the end of last month.
In March, all 13 counties in District 2 – Banks, Dawson, Forsyth, Franklin, Habersham, Hall, Hart, Lumpkin, Rabun, Stephens, Towns, Union, and White – recorded low community levels.
To determine transmissibility, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention looks at three metrics — new COVID-19 admissions per 100,000 population in the past 7 days, the percent of staffed inpatient beds occupied by COVID-19 patients, and total new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 population in the past 7 days. New COVID-19 admissions and the percent of staffed inpatient beds occupied represent the current potential for strain on the health system. Data on new cases acts as an early warning indicator of potential increases in health system strain in the event of a COVID-19 surge, the CDC says.
Using these data, the COVID-19 community level is classified as low, medium, or high.
Currently, Dawson, Franklin, Hall, Hart, Rabun, Stephens, Union, and White counties have medium transmissibility levels. The other counties in District 2 remain low. Click on the button below for the latest report.
COVID-19 REPORT
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Since the pandemic began in March 2020, public health officials have confirmed over 2 million cases of the virus in Georgia. At least 32,203 people in the state have died with the virus and another 6,618 deaths are considered ‘probable’ COVID deaths.
District 2 COVID death tolls:
Banks: 89
Dawson: 97
Forsyth: 391
Franklin: 80
Habersham: 242
Hall: 807
Hart: 65
Lumpkin: 110
Rabun: 83
Stephens: 137
Towns: 89
Union: 142
White: 146
Nationwide, COVID has caused or contributed to the deaths of at least 1,017,391 people, according to the CDC. The U.S. is now averaging 123,365 new cases of COVID and 342 deaths daily.
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