Four Athens residents died of COVID-19 last week despite a continued decline in new cases and hospitalizations. At least 203 Clarke County residents have died of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic.
Hospitalizations of Clarke County residents receded slightly, with just 10 new hospitalizations last week compared to 17 the previous week. There have been 1,115 residents hospitalized for COVID-19 to date.
Regional data from the Georgia Medical Facility Patient Census also showed improvement for local hospitals. As of Feb. 25, 70 patients, or 10.5%, were hospitalized with COVID-19 compared to 95 patients, or 14.9%, the previous week.
The reduction in hospitalizations for the week bodes well for Clarke County given the release of the CDC’s new mask guidelines last week that eased mask requirements for communities where COVID-19 poses a “low” to “medium” risk to hospitals. The new guidelines, which are based on a new framework for monitoring the pandemic that focuses less on new cases and more on how the virus is affecting hospitals, currently eases restrictions for more than 70% of the U.S. population, including schools. Masks became optional at Clarke County public schools Feb. 28.
While Region E hospitals did show a reduction in new hospitalizations, ICUs continue to struggle. There were 63 ICU beds in use, 90% of capacity. If Clarke County is following national data trends, continued need for ICU bed space is likely a result of patients who have delayed or been unable to receive medical care during the height of the Omicron wave.
In terms of community transmission in Clarke County, there were 65 new confirmed cases and six positive antigen tests reported last week and the seven-day moving average of new cases dropped to 9.3 on Feb. 25 from 17.1 the previous week.
Wastewater data continued to show low levels of community transmission last week. According to Erin Lipp’s weekly lab report at UGA, which monitors COVID-19 levels in wastewater in Athens, samples averaged for the week showed the total viral load to be “In the bottom 10 percent of estimates to date.”
On the vaccination front, 94 first doses and 123 second doses of the vaccine were administered to Clarke County residents last week. To date, 52%, or 65,968 residents, have received at least one dose, and 49%, or 61,308 residents, have been fully vaccinated. There were 224 booster doses administered for the week, with 48% of the fully vaccinated local population also boosted.
Child vaccination rates remain stagnant, with just one child aged 5-9 and 13 children aged 10-14 receiving the vaccine last week. To date, 1,533 children aged 5-9, or 25.8% of the local age group; 2,750 children aged 10-14, or 44.5%; and 3,670 children aged 15-19, or 26.1%, have received at least one dose.
While the vaccination numbers remain lackluster for children, the Georgia Department of Public Health’s School Aged Surveillance Report for Feb. 25 showed a significant reduction in the 14-day case rate for local children, with 12 new cases for children ages 0-4 and 20 new cases for children ages 5-17. That’s down from 90 new cases and 189 new cases, respectively, on Feb. 10.
At UGA, 158 vaccine doses were administered for the week of Feb. 14-18. The data includes booster vaccination doses, with 5,571 booster doses administered at UGA to date. New cases for the week were nearly cut in half, with 47 reported. Surveillance testing rates decreased slightly from 552 the previous week to 437.
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