The Georgia Department of Public Health’s weekly COVID-19 update Wednesday continued to show low case rates for Clarke County for the past week, with just 33 new cases reported and a decreased seven-day running average of 4.9 daily new cases, compared to 5.9 for the week prior.
DPH’s move to a weekly report, released each Wednesday, is in part a result of lower case numbers, at least in terms of official data. With the rise in at-home testing and general pandemic fatigue that has resulted in fewer people seeking out testing in general, the day-to-day data is becoming less reliable.
For the first time since January, no Clarke County residents died of COVID-19 during the past week. Since the beginning of the pandemic, at least 219 Athens residents have died of COVID-19. Three Clarke County residents were hospitalized with COVID-19, with 1,186 hospitalizations to date.
At the time of the weekly report, there were just three patients, or 0.5% of all patients in the region, hospitalized with COVID-19. ICU bed capacity remained stable, with 72% of beds in use.
While DPH data gives some perspective on the state of viral spread for the community, UGA professor Erin Lipp’s wastewater research, released on Fridays, continues to be a valuable source to keep an eye on each week, especially as official DPH data becomes less reliable because of less testing.
On the vaccination front, 84 Clarke County residents received their first dose last week, and another 92 residents were fully vaccinated. To date, 53% of Athens residents have received at least one dose, and 49% have been fully vaccinated.
At UGA, 94 vaccine doses were administered during the week of Apr. 18. UGA’s weekly status update showed 40 positive cases for the week, with 114 surveillance tests administered. Positive test numbers and surveillance tests administered were similar to the week prior.
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