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over two weeks. The seven-day moving
average, which gives us the best idea of how
much cases are increasing, is up from 26.3
on Nov. 19 to 38.4 on Dec. 3.
In addition, rapid-antigen testing data
shows there have been 1,327 likely cases for
Athens-Clarke County; added to the con
firmed cases, these likely cases indicate an
increase of 144 cases in the past two weeks.
Combined, 8,196 Athens residents have
tested positive since the pandemic began.
Amber Schmidke, a public health micro
biologist who has been monitoring the
COVID-19 situation in Georgia, points out
in her daily newsletter that the data for the
week of Thanksgiving and the week after
the holiday may be skewed because of labs
being closed for several days and a resulting
test-processing backlog.
According to wastewater data from Erin
Lipp’s lab at the Center for the Ecology of
Infectious Disease at UGA, concentrations
of the virus continue to show community
spread. The lab’s website notes that elevated
levels of the virus in sewage preceded the
uptick in cases last week.
Despite many UGA students having
gone home for the rest of the semester
as the remainder of classes this semester
are online, some students are still in town
and on campus. To that end, UGA is still
offering surveillance testing through Dec.
23 at the Legion Field testing site, and
the University Health Center is also still
offering testing for symptomatic students.
The university will also continue to release
weekly data reports each Wednesday. In
total, for the week of Nov. 16-22, there were
101 positive cases among students, fac
ulty and staff, and 71 for the week of Nov.
23-29.
In the week prior to Thanksgiving, more
than 5,000 students participated in surveil
lance testing, exceeding the goal of testing
1,000 students a day in anticipation of stu
dents going home. Of the 5,116 asymptom
atic tests for the week of Nov. 16-20, there
were 38 positive cases for a positivity rate
of .75%. For the week of Nov. 23-27, there
were 17 positive asymptomatic cases out of
2,021 total tests, for a positivity rate of .8%.
Just as the pandemic has highlighted
and magnified systemic weaknesses and
problems in many areas, health care is no
different. The closure of rural hospitals
and the resulting stress increasingly put
on larger regional hospitals have been hap
pening steadily across Georgia and much of
the South for the last 20 years. Now, in the
face of the pandemic, we’re seeing just how
much stress these hospitals are under.
The COVID-19 hospitalization rate for
Region E, which includes St. Mary’s and
Piedmont Athens Regional, is nearly the
same as it was at the height of the summer
surge. COVID-19 hospitalizations have
shown a significant increase in the last
week, with 40 additional hospitalizations
from Nov. 26-Dec. 3. Of the 643 patients
in the region as of Dec. 3,126 patients, or
19.6% of all patients, were hospitalized
for COVID-19. On top of the increasing
COVID-19 hospitalizations, ICU capacity
is still at a premium, with 68 of 70 beds, or
97%, in use as of Dec. 3.
In a meeting with hospital CEOs, the
Athens Area Chamber of Commerce, Mayor
Kelly Girtz and other officials last week,
hospital administrators said they were
seeing more cases and there was more
community spread occurring. Further, they
stressed that some in the public may be let
ting up on their vigilance because the pros
pect of the vaccine is so close to a reality at
this point.
Administrators also presented a timeline
of how vaccine distribution would occur
locally once approved. With distribution
in three phases, the first phase would
go to vaccinating health-care workers.
Administrators said they could begin vac
cinations for staff as early as this month,
once one of the three potential vaccines is
approved for emergency use, but no one
yet knows just how many doses they’ll get
initially. The second phase of vaccinations
would likely start in February and would
go toward vulnerable populations, and the
third phase of vaccinations for the general
public could be available as early as April.
Despite the prospect of vaccines, St.
Mary’s President and Ceo Montez Carter
noted that it won’t be a “magic bullet.”
Observing public health measures will still
be important in the foreseeable future.
[Jessica Luton] ©
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