Clarke County broke the 3,000-case threshold for positive coronavirus tests when the state Department of Health released its daily figures this afternoon.
DPH reported a cumulative total of 3,070 cases, 171 hospitalizations and 30 deaths among Clarke County residents as of Tuesday.
Cases per 100,000 people over the past 14 days—an approximation of the current active infection rate—stood at 580 on Tuesday, up from 450 less than three weeks ago. For schools to start to reopen, Clarke County should have 175 cases per 100,000 people over a 14-day window, and that figure should be 100 before schools fully reopen. The rate of positive tests in Clarke County is 10%, twice the recommended percentage for reopening.
Given the University of Georgia and DPH’s reporting methods, it’s impossible to know how many new cases are people associated with UGA. But the rate of infection has risen substantially since students began coming back to town in early to mid-August.
“The 10-county Northeast Health District is bucking the statewide trend of decreasing cases,” Lee Becker reported at Oconee County Observations. The seven-day rolling average of new cases in the region rose from 137 to 149 on Monday. Sixty percent of the new cases reported were Clarke County residents.
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