COVID-19 cases are continuing to drop this week from their early-September high during this fall’s Delta variant surge, but hospital beds remain in short supply, and deaths are mounting.
As of Thursday, Clarke County’s seven-day rolling average of new cases stood at 31 per day, down from 49 a week ago and 100 a month ago, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health.
Last week’s wastewater collection data showed that viral loads remained virtually unchanged from the week before, according to Erin Lipp’s lab at the UGA Center for the Ecology of Infectious Diseases.
At UGA, cases held steady last week with 91, compared to 82 two weeks ago, the university announced Wednesday. However, asymptomatic cases caught by surveillance testing rose, with 1.6% of surveillance tests positive.
The University Health Center administered 275 vaccine doses last week, bringing the total to 26,453, with 14,472 people fully vaccinated. Overall, Clarke County’s vaccination rate is 44%.
More than 93% of hospital beds are occupied in Region E, which includes Clarke County, including 72 of 74 intensive care beds. Out of 682 total patients at local hospitals, 159, or 23%, are hospitalized with COVID-19. Fifty-seven new patients were admitted with COVID-19 over the past week, according to the CDC.
Four Clarke County residents died of COVID-19 in the past week, bringing to the total to 160, DPH reported.
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