About Dawson County news. (Dawsonville, Georgia) 2015-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 11, 2021)
Gordon Pirkle was the product of the land that raised him INSIDE, 4B New company wants to help you get outside, inside, da DawsonCountyNews WEDNESDAY I AUGUST 11,2021 DaWSOflNeWS ’COITI DAWSONVILLE, GEORGIA $1.00 ‘It’s something we’re watching closely’ Local health experts discuss the spread of the COVID-19 delta variant in North Georgia By Erica Schmidt eschmidt@dawsonnews.com The COVID-19 delta variant has recently come to the fore front of headlines and news coverage as medical profes sionals continue the battle. Here’s what local experts say you should know about the delta variant of the virus. According to Dr. Larry Anderson, chairman for the Dawson County Health Board and physician at Anderson Family Medicine, the delta variant is a mutation of the COVID-19 virus. “The delta is a variant of the COVID-19, it’s not a new dif ferent COVID;” Anderson said. “It has to do with the proteins that are on the virus; it mutates a little bit.” Natasha Young, public infor mation officer for the Department of Public Health District 2, said that the delta variant seems to be more conta gious than previous strains of the virus. “It is a new COVID strain and it is more than twice as easily spread from one person to another compared to earlier strains, so it has become the predominant variant since May 2021,” Young said. Both Anderson and Young said that the symptoms of the delta variant are similar to the original COVID-19 virus, so the two can come across as identical. "The symptoms are the same; you can’t tell from the symp toms if it’s the variant or not, but most of these rapid testing does not differentiate between the COVID virus and the delta,” Anderson said. “The COVID-19 variant seems to be a little bit more contagious than COVID-19, but it doesn’t seem at this point to be any more vir ulent.” Young added that while the arrival of the delta variant has contributed to a spike in COVID-19 cases, the Department of Public Health doesn’t keep records of which strain patients who test positive may have. “We don’t have any data, specifically on the number of Delta infections in our area; that’s not something that they map out for us, they just know that someone has been infected with COVID,” Young said. “It’s all over Georgia; nationally we are seeing an increase of over 300% from June 19 to July 23, so it’s just something that we’re watching closely.” According to the Department of Public Health website, See Delta 12A Back to school, back to ‘normal’ H K Photos by Erica Schmidt Dawson County News Parents line up their cars outside of Dawson County Middle School to drop off students for the first day of the 2021-22 school year on the morning of Friday, Aug. 6. Photos from the first day of in-person classes after a year at home Council OKs Moonshine Festival permit By Erica Schmidt eschmidt@dawsonnews.com The 54th annual Mountain Moonshine Festival is moving ahead full steam, after receiving final approval for its permit by the Dawsonville City Council this week. The board voted 3-1, with Council Member John Walden opposed, to approve the yearly festival’s permit at the council’s regular meeting held on Monday, Aug. 2. K.A.R.E. for Kids personnel have been working with the Dawsonville Food Lion management to figure out details of park ing and what spaces in the store’s parking lot can be used, according to K.A.R.E. for Kids Executive Director Tiffany Buchan. Buchan said that Food Lion management has been agreeable to See Permit 13A Smith named editor of DCN From DCN Staff By Erica Schmidt eschmidt@dawsonnews.com On the morning of Friday, Aug. 6, children from all over Dawson County boarded buses or sat in carpool lines to offi cially go back to school for the fall semester of the 2021-22 school year. Following a school year unlike any other in 2020, teachers and other school administrators expressed relief to be back to “normal” with a new school year. Dawson County News visited two local schools to capture photos of the first day back to school in Dawson County. See School 17A Students walk into Dawson County Middle School on the first day of the 2021-22 school year on the morning of Friday, Aug. 6 Dawson County News Reporter Jacob Smith has been named to lead the Dawsonville-based newspaper starting on Monday, Aug. 9, follow ing former DCN Editor Alexander Popp’s recent promotion to a leading role at the paper’s parent company, Metro Market Media. Smith, a University of North Georgia alumni, joined the Dawson County News in March of 2020 as a part-time sports reporter and quickly established himself as a charis matic, trusted journalist in the North Georgia sports world. Smith has worked as a full-time reporter for the DCN and its See Smith| 3A Smith 0 9 0 9 9 4 Inside Volume 7, Number 29 © 2021, Dawson County News Dawsonville, Georgia Church Events 2A Classifieds 7B Dear Abby 6B Deaths 2A Legals 8B Opinion 5A Sports 1B 7A Kemp defends approch to fighting COVID-19 3A Empty Bowl Lunch returns Sept. 21 GALLBLADDER CANCF 1 TESTICULAR CANCEk -mrnnm afo ovarian cancer UtUKblA U COLON CANCER __ _ _ ____ LIVER CANCER TDI ICTtn MELANOMA B l\UU I LU PANCREATIC CANCER CVDEDTC CRD lung cancer LArblAlO rUl\ BREASTCANCE^^i [ALL CANCER TYPES-Bit PROSTATE C COLORECTi i INH NORTHSIDE HOSPITAL CANCER INSTITUTE ■•built TO BEATHM3I3 Visit builttobeatcancer.com to learn more.
