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Region 6-7A football expected to
be a challenge for Gainesville High
against Forsyth schools, sports, 12B
UFOs in Hall County? Locals
recount alleged sightings.
LIFE, 8B
Lula
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REGION, 1B
Weekend Edition - AUGUST 1-2,2020 | $2.00 | GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA | gainesvilletimes.com
Honestly Local
Area hospitals ‘essentially full’
Hospital chief: Tast time for our communities to get serious’ about stopping spread
BY JEFF GILL
jgill@gainesvilletimes.com
Editor’s note: A previous version
of this article appeared in an edi
tion of our E-Paper. This updated
version is being included here for
those who do not access articles
online.
Setting recent records for the
number of COVID-19 patients,
Northeast Georgia Health System’s
Gainesville and Braselton hospitals
“have been essentially full for the
last two weeks,” the Gainesville
hospital’s chief of medical staff
said this week.
“Our employees and physicians
continue to bring their best every
day to care for community, but
our resources have been stretched
to their limits,” Dr. Clifton
Hastings said.
According to data from the
health system, as of Friday, July
31, the Gainesville hospital had a
capacity of 557 beds, including 112
in the ICU. The total number of
occupied beds was 543, including
101 in ICU. The hospital had 107
COVID-19 patients.
And the Braselton hospital had
a capacity of 167 beds, including
24 in the ICU. The total number
of occupied beds was 150, includ
ing 21 in ICU. The hospital had 45
COVID-19 patients.
“We’ve expanded total capacity
at each NGMC hospital to meet the
needs of the community,” said Dr.
John Delzell, NGHS incident com
mander. “We’re better prepared
now that at any other time dur
ing the pandemic, thanks to quick
work by our employees and physi
cians to create new units, convert
negative pressure rooms and flex
staffing levels.”
“We’ve really seen the 90 to
100% full levels consistently at the
Gainesville and Braselton hospitals
during the past two weeks,” said
Sean Couch, NGHS spokesman,
■ Please see CAPACITY, 5A
‘Faith over fear’
Photos by SCOTT ROGERS I The Times
Syfan Logistics employees practice social distancing inside the office Wednesday, July 29. The firm has been hit hard with dozens
testing positive in the company.
Syfan Logistics upbeat even as COVID-19 outbreak strikes
BY JEFF GILL
jgill@gainesvilletimes.com
Syfan Logistics in Gainesville did what
it could to ward off the coronavirus.
The transportation firm, with 80%
of employees working from home, has
installed thermal cameras to detect
temperatures of people passing through
entrances, brought in meals so employees
don’t have to go out for food, put up glass
dividers between desks and used a clean
ing service to keep things sanitized.
“I feel like we’ve done what the CDC
says and maybe a little more,” said Steve
Syfan, co-founder and executive vice
president of the company at 2037 Old
Candler Road.
But COVID-19 still found a way to infect
53 people associated with the company,
A special camera measures the body
temperatures of everyone entering the
lobby of Syfan Logistics in Gainesville.
including family, in the last six weeks.
The good news is none have tested posi
tive in the past 16 days and “nobody has
stayed in the hospital,” Syfan told The
Times this week. “It’s not been fun, but
neither is the flu. I don’t want to make
light of (COVID-19) in any way. It can hit
hard. I believe it’s real. I’ve felt it.”
Syfan is one of those testing positive,
experiencing mild symptoms, such as
cough and losing the ability to taste or
smell, which he says, “is pretty weird.”
And overall, that’s been the case with
the other 52.
“We’ve made it through it with a mini
mum number of symptoms,” he said.
“Tired is the No. 1 symptom we’ve wit
nessed — low energy and no taste or
smell.”
Syfan said there were concerns about
his 76-year-old father, Jim Syfan, the
■ Please see SYFAN, 6A
Church leader
charged again
with sex crimes
La Luz del Mundo
plans for location in
Flowery Branch unclear
BY JEFF GILL
jgill@gainesvilletimes.com
California has charged the leader of a Mexi
can megachurch that has proposed a large
multiuse development in Flowery Branch with
child rape and human trafficking, the Associ
ated Press has reported.
Naason Joaquin Garcia,
the self-proclaimed apostle
of La Luz del Mundo, was
charged Wednesday, July
29, with three dozen felony
counts, according to the AP.
The charges were filed
months after a court dis
missed the previous allega
tions because of prosecution
errors.
According to AP, prosecutors contend Garcia
and two others committed sex crimes and pro
duced child pornography involving five women
and girls who were church group members.
The crimes took place between 2015 and 2018
in Los Angeles County, authorities said.
Garcia is the spiritual leader of La Luz del
Mundo, which is Spanish for “The Light Of The
World.” He has previously denied wrongdoing.
The Guadalajara, Mexico-based evangelical
Christian church was founded by his grandfa
ther and claims 5 million followers worldwide.
Jack Freeman, LLDM spokesman, couldn’t
immediately be reached for comment.
The church has proposed building a 272-acre
complex off Hog Mountain Road in Flowery
Branch. The project calls for a hotel, retail, and
multifamily and single-family homes. It also
proposes a school site, fellowship hall, adminis
trative offices and cultural center/park.
No application has been filed on the proj
ect, and a website describing the project
appears to be down, with the message “This
site can’t be reached.” Hall County tax records
show the church still owns the property in
question.
“The city has not heard from them at all,”
Flowery Branch city planner Rich Atkinson
said Friday, July 31.
Garcia
DEATHS 2B
Billy Adams, 89
Edward Allen, 91
Harold Archer, 82
Robbie Bettis, 68
Edward Casper, 65
Jimmy Chastain, 64
Lee Costlow, 67
Linda Covington, 69
William Crain, 59
James Day, 78
Richard Dougherty, 85
Robin Earls, 64
Sue Eidson, 80
Melissa Farmer, 59
James Hammond, 77
John Harper, 89
Ann Holmes, 88
William Hunt, Sr., 82
Alice Kikta, 92
Awa Martin, 57
Joann Miller, 64
Sharon Moore, 70
Edward Muschell, 89
Bennie Peck
Walter Schindler Jr., 61
Sherka Statham
Nancy Stiles, 79
Roger Tapleshay, 81
Christine Thomas, 66
Ralph Tolliver, 90
Ricky Waters, 62
Russell Wells, 87
Joyce Whitmire, 81
Clint Whittney 56
Nettie Wood, 80
0
40901
06825
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YOUR CARE FROM
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