ATLANTA (CN) — As the highly contagious delta variant causes Covid-19 cases to spike in Georgia to their highest levels since early February, hospitals are reporting severe overcrowding and some school districts are reinstituting mask mandates.
The state’s rolling seven-day average for probable and confirmed cases of the virus has risen to 4,792, nearly a dozen times higher than it was at the start of July when the seven-day average hovered around 500.
Georgia reported 44,238 new cases of Covid-19 over the last two weeks. Just over 10,000 of those cases were reported last weekend.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that the delta variant accounts for 78% of new cases in the Peach State.
“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 Dr. Kathleen E. Toomey, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Public Health.
The last time case rates were so high was in early February, before most people were eligible to receive vaccinations. Although the vaccination rate has slowly crept upwards, only 41% of Georgians are fully vaccinated and approximately 53% of residents have not yet received their first shot.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Georgia Department of Public Health’s Coastal Health District said that the emergence of the delta variant, combined with low vaccination rates, is fueling a surge in the virus “unseen since the beginning of the pandemic.”
Nowhere is the weight of the pandemic more obvious than inside the state's hospitals, which are quickly running out of beds for new patients.
Eighty-eight percent of ICU beds in Georgia are already occupied, with over a third of them in use for Covid-19 patients. At least 1,356 people are on ventilators across the state.
The overcrowding inside Georgia hospitals is forcing some to turn patients away. Many metro Atlanta hospitals are on ER diversion, meaning that the emergency rooms cannot accept incoming ambulance traffic.
During a news conference Monday, officials from four coastal Georgia hospitals made a familiar plea to community members: wear a mask and get vaccinated.
“If you need a reason other than your own personal safety, then imagine your children and your family without you,” said Dr. Stephen Thacker, associate chief medical officer at Memorial Health. “Show them you care by getting vaccinated. Your choices matter.”
The upward trend in cases comes as children across the state return to school.
The seven-day average of new cases among children between the ages of 10 and 17 is 400, the highest level seen since January. The seven-day average for that age group in early July hovered between 20 and 30 cases.
At least 33 of the state’s 181 school districts are currently requiring some type of mask usage, but that number may quickly change as school officials report hundreds of cases statewide in the two weeks since classrooms have opened.
About 90 miles south of Atlanta, the Talbot County School District was forced to shut down its one public school within a week of opening due to what it called “a high level threat” of Covid-19 infection. Eleven students out of 458 reported testing positive between Aug. 3 and Aug. 8. The district will remain closed until Monday.
The rising infection rate has already forced some school districts to reverse optional mask-wearing policies.
The 94,000-student Fulton County School System in metro Atlanta, the fourth-largest school district in the state, made masks mandatory on Aug. 5 after announcing that 13 of the 14 cities in the county exceed Covid-19 rates that public health officials consider “high community spread.”
Newton County's school district, which has 19,000 students, made the same decision after only one week of classes.
“This decision was not taken lightly,” said Newton County school superintendent Samantha Fuhrey in a statement Friday. “In only five days of school, we’ve had over 80 confirmed positive cases of student infection and over 200 students have been sent home to quarantine. We tried the mask-optional status but now must revert to requiring mask usage due to the considerable spike in cases.”
Fuhrey said she knew the decision would not be “popular” among many families in the district.
“No one likes wearing a mask. I understand that. But if parents and the community want our children to be able to attend school in person we must do this – at least for now,” she said.
Republican Governor Brian Kemp has steadfastly refused to implement a statewide school mask mandate. He instead signed an executive order in May barring schools from citing the public health state of emergency as a reason for requiring masks.
“With safe and effective vaccines widely available and the public well-aware of all Covid-19 mitigation measures, mandates from state and local governments are no longer needed,” the governor said in a statement accompanying the order.
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