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Georgia Coronavirus Updates: 1 In 10 File For Unemployment; States Eye Path To Reopening
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President Trump announced guidelines Thursday for states to reopen their economies in the coming weeks. Meanwhile, Georgia processed more than 861,000 unemployment claims in the last month and the peak of coronavirus cases is projected to still be weeks away.
As of 7 p.m. Friday, April 17, there are more than 17,000 reported COVID-19 cases in Georgia, and about 20% of those have resulted in hospitalizations. At least 668 people, or 3.83% of those people with confirmed cases, have died.
Here is the latest coronavirus news from Georgia for Friday, April 17, 2020.
UPDATED MAP: Track Coronavirus By Population Across Georgia
Trump offers guidelines for states to reopen…
At a White House briefing Thursday, Trump unveiled a roadmap for communities to begin the path to normalcy where new COVID-19 cases are steadily falling.
The White House's phased strategy is contingent upon states having data about case levels, the capacity to treat all patients and test healthcare workers, and the ability to trace the contacts of those infected. States can decide on a county-by-county approach, the 18-page document says.
Employers should be able to do temperature checks and contact tracing, the guidelines say.
The guidelines suggest three phases for states to reopen, with progressively relaxed levels of social distancing. Each phase would require a 14-day period of a "downward trajectory" of cases to advance to the next one.
…but Georgia’s not ready yet
While touring a 200-bed overflow hospital constructed in the sprawling Georgia World Congress Center Thursday, Kemp said it is time to start discussing next steps for the state, but there is not a one-size-fits-all approach.
“The situation we have in Georgia is our peak of when it gets here keeps moving further away,” Kemp said. “And we have other states like New York, Washington and California that are now on the backside of the peak… so the governors are going to have to make decisions based on what’s happening in the state.”
Projections from the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation now push back the peak of Georgia’s COVID-19 cases and hospital use to the first week of May, while the state’s stay-home order currently expires April 30.
The governor said that the next week of data is going to help determine whether that order will be extended and what steps the state will take next.
“To me, I wish the peak was now and we’d be moving on the other side, so when it moves out it’s a little disappointing” Kemp said. “But on the other hand, every time the model moves further out, the numbers get better for our bed capacity.”
The toll of the virus is not limited to the health of Georgians, although 617 have lost their lives since the beginning of the pandemic.
The latest report from the Georgia Department of Labor shows at least 10% of Georgia’s population has filed for unemployment in the last month and over half a billion dollars in benefits paid out.
In an interview with CNHI, Commissioner Mark Butler said his agency is scrambling to keep up with a system not designed to withstand this kind of demand.
“Across the state, residents struggling to file for unemployment benefits have reported dropped calls and web pages that won’t load.
But if the department added 1,000 more phone lines and tripled its staff, he said, it still wouldn’t be enough.”
These are the things that Kemp must grapple with.
Absentee Ballot Drop Boxes Allowed For June 9 Primary
The Georgia State Election Board passed an emergency rule Wednesday allowing county officials to set up secure drop boxes for voters to return their absentee ballots as local administrators grapple with running an election during a global health crisis.
This could give some of Georgia's 7 million-plus eligible voters another way to return their ballots for the June 9 primary election only, as counties begin to close polling places because of staff shortages and try to implement social distancing at the polls.
County registrars are now authorized to set up one or more secure locations on government-owned property where voters can drop their completed absentee ballot any time before the polls close at 7 p.m. on Election Day.
Georgia expands COVID-19 testing criteria
Effective immediately, all Georgians can get tested for COVID-19 if they are symptomatic, the state health department said Wednesday.
Kemp announced expanded testing criteria earlier this week, and criticized the state's lag in testing. Less than 70,000 tests have been performed in Georgia, where more than 10 million people live.
"Despite our partnerships and undeniable progress, our testing numbers in Georgia continue to lag," he said. "We need to be firing on all cylinders to prepare for the days and weeks ahead."
Meanwhile, regional health departments are still struggling to meet present needs for coronavirus testing and the Georgia National Guard is preparing to help perform tests across the state.
Death toll tops 600
The Georgia Department of Public Health reports 668 confirmed deaths in Georgia from the coronavirus, but that number is much higher.
At least 91 people have died in Dougherty County, where more than one in every hundred residents has tested positive for COVID-19.
By comparison, 74 reported deaths are in Fulton County, the state’s most populous, where infection rates are eight times lower.
More long-term care facilities hit
"Right now, there are at least 80 longterm care facilities, including nursing homes, assisted living facilities, personal care homes, hospice, and similar community living facilities, with COVID-19 cases," Kemp said during a news conference Monday. "We’re working to verify new information on additional facilities."
But data released by the state Tuesday show at least 138 facilities have cases, though those numbers are lagging behind reports on the ground.
From the AJC:
Officials on Tuesday released a report on long-term care facilities that was riddled with errors and omissions. The report documented outbreaks in 138 facilities, up from 80 last week. But it made no mention of Summerset Assisted Living in Fulton County, for instance, even though two-thirds of residents and staff there have tested positive for the virus.
The report said at least 89 residents of long-term care facilities have died of COVID-19. But some of the facilities themselves have recorded significantly more deaths than the report captured.
Update from Albany
The Phoebe Health system in Albany said in a statement Thursday they reported the most deaths in a single day from COVID-19, one day after reporting the lowest number of hospitalizations in almost a month.
1,132 patients have recovered, something the hospital defines as someone who tested positive and self-isolated at home for at least 14 days from the testing date, or a hospital inpatient who has been discharged for at least 10 days.
“While the number of COVID-19 cases we are seeing has plateaued for now, most of the COVID patients coming into our emergency rooms are critically ill,” CEO Scott Steiner said. “Unfortunately, today, we are reporting an additional 9 deaths of COVID-positive patients. That equals the highest number of deaths we have reported on any single day since this public health emergency began. That fact alone should be a wakeup call to anyone who thinks he or she is safe from this virus. COVID-19 is a vicious illness that continues to claim lives in our community, and we must all take the threat seriously. I remain extremely proud of the compassion and commitment with which the Phoebe Family is caring for our community and appreciative of the support our team is getting. We are truly in this together.”
Georgia boosts health care staffing
Jackson Healthcare is bringing close to 600 additional healthcare professionals to hospital systems around the state, Kemp announced Tuesday.
“We are committed to giving our heroic healthcare workers the staffing support necessary to win this fight,” he said. “It has been inspiring to witness the work being done by those on the front lines to combat COVID-19, and I join my fellow Georgians in expressing tremendous gratitude for their service. I want to thank our partners with the Department of Community Health for assisting us in this critical initiative.”
65 of those have already been working in the Phoebe Health system in Albany, with eight more coming soon to the main campus.
Several hundred are also coming to the Phoebe North campus, including one of four temporary medical units being built.
Other hospitals adding temporary capacity
Those other units are going to hospitals in Rome, Gainesville and Macon, where GPB’s Grant Blankenship reports on construction.
Spencer Hawkins of Macon-Bibb County Emergency Management said 24 beds in six pods of prefabricated buildings will be erected in a parking lot adjacent to the Medical Center at Navicent Health.
“They’ll start installation of the units late in the month, sometime between the 23 and 27th with a plan to have that open around the first of May.”
If construction goes as scheduled, that should make the overflow spaces ready at about the same time the University of Washington predicts the peak of Georgia coronavirus infections.
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