Covid numbers climbing locally and state wide – The Augusta Chronicle

With a new wave of COVID-19 infections climbing across the state, Georgia Public Health officials are encouraging vaccinations and hospitals are preparing for more admissions from the unvaccinated majority.

We have seen a spike in cases, said Leigh Davis, Jefferson County Health Departments Nurse Manager. As of today (Aug. 4) we have 34 active cases.

The county averaged between one and two active cases per day between April and late July. The spike began on July 29 and was up to 10 by Aug. 2.

I have two new cases this morning, but the day is not over, she said.

As of Monday, Aug. 2, the COVID case rate in Georgia had increased 204 percent over the last two weeks. Officials have said that as of Aug. 1, new cases of the virus have reached the highest daily number since February, totaling 4,612 statewide. Hospitalizations have increased by about 50 percent since mid-July and deaths increased by about 18 percent.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates the Delta variant accounts for 78 percent of new COVID cases in the state. State public health officials explained that this variant spreads more than twice as easily from one person to another than earlier strains and the highest spread of cases and severe outcomes are in places with low vaccination rates.

Unfortunately, we can expect COVID numbers to keep growing. People who are unvaccinated or skip their second dose of vaccine are targets for infection, said Kathleen E. Toomey, M.D., M.P.H., commissioner of the Georgia Department of Public Health. Getting vaccinated is the best way to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and the Delta variant. High vaccination coverage will reduce spread of the virus in your community and elsewhere and help prevent new variants from emerging.

While the Delta Variant has caused some vaccinated individuals to show symptoms of a new infection, most of these breakthrough infections are mild and virtually all deaths continue to be among the unvaccinated.

The majority of the cases Davis has seen in Jefferson County have been among the unvaccinated.

As of Aug. 4, Jefferson County residents have been administered 12,516 doses of the corona virus vaccines, Davis said. Around 6,807 have had one dose and 39 percent of the countys residents are fully vaccinated. In neighboring Glascock County, 25 percent of the population has had both shots.

Across the state 46 percent of Georgians have had at lease one shot and 41 percent are fully vaccinated.

We are doing well compared to other counties around us, but still, at 39 percent it needs to increase, especially with this surge, Davis said.

Jefferson has a slightly higher percentage of vaccinated citizens than surrounding counties like Richmond, Burke, Washington and McDuffie and is roughly the same as Warren, Hancock, Columbia and Lincoln counties.

I highly recommend that if you can get a vaccine, to get a vaccine, Davis said. The ages are 12 and older. Thats the group we are looking at during this time, especially with school going back into session. If you are 12 to 99 or 102, get vaccinated if you havent been.

The Jefferson County Board of Education invited Davis office out to take part in its back-to-school event at Jefferson County High School last week where they were able to give out 36 vaccinations.

The CDC is telling us now, even if you have been vaccinated to wear your mask while you are indoors, Davis said. If you are sick, stay home. If you are having symptoms and you have the ability to go get tested, go get tested so you know for sure what you are dealing with. If you are running fever dont go into work, dont go into school. Thats how it spreads. Someone who is sick but has very mild symptoms will go to work or school and you end up potentially shutting those places down.

Local health departments stopped doing contact tracing in January when they focused their efforts on vaccinations. The tracing duties are now being conducted by specialists at the district level.

It appears that there are a lot of people not answering the phone for contact tracers, Davis said. I urge that if you have tested positive, definitely answer the phone and cooperate with the contact tracer and get enrolled with the 14-day contact tracing so they can watch and make sure your symptoms are better. That does help us with the data. When people dont answer the phone, then we cant notify those that have been potentially exposed.

At Jefferson Hospital

We are seeing an increase in positivity rate for testing. In the last two weeks we are seeing about an 18 percent positivity rate in our testing, said Jefferson Hospital CEO Wendy Martin.

In May and June that rate was around 5 percent and climbed to 10 percent in July.

The hospital has also seen more COVID-positive inpatients in recent weeks than they have had in months.

We are absolutely seeing an uptick in COVID activity in the hospital, Martin said. The volume we are currently seeing is manageable for us, but it concerns me that with the increased positivity rate we could eventually get to a point where we would be at capacity with COVID patients.

Jefferson Hospital is preparing to have more positive patients and has recently changed its visitation policy as a result of the increased COVID activity in the area.

No one under the age of 16 is currently allowed to visit and patients in the clinics and hospital setting are limited to one visitor per patient. The cafeteria remains open to the public for takeout, but masks are required within the building.

All of this is subject to change if we feel it is no longer safe to allow the community into the building, Martin said.

Vaccine Availability

Jefferson Hospital is now offering vaccines at all three of its clinic locations during business hours, Monday through Friday with or without an appointment.

Anyone can show up, complete your consent form paperwork and get your vaccine, Martin said. We have also begun doing off-site vaccine clinics at businesses, churches, etc. If there is any organization within the county that is interested in having us come on site and offer vaccines to their employees or members, please contact Dallas Turner at 478-625-7000 and we can help to facilitate that. We want to makesure that everyone has access to this.

The Jefferson County Health Department provides vaccinations to walk-ins every Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

We prefer doing them by appointment because it makes the process go a bit smoother, but you dont have to have an appointment. If there is anyone who cant do a Thursday and needs a different day, call us and we can make sure they get their vaccine, Davis said.

Jefferson Countys Health Department also offers both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. While it is primarily personal preference, Davis said that the Pfizer option is the only one that has been approved for people between the ages of 12 and 18.

Some people also like that with Pfizer you can come back within 21 days (as opposed to 28 with Moderna) to get your second shot, Davis said. So, it can give you immunity at least a week faster.

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Covid numbers climbing locally and state wide - The Augusta Chronicle