AUGUSTA, Ga. – New infections from COVID-19 remained steady in Georgia at just over 1,000 while new deaths were slightly lower, with one in Augusta. But Augusta hospital COVID-19 patient admissions up compared to the start of the week.
Georgia suffered 44 new deaths for a toll of 16,930 and added 1,005 new cases to reach 860,393, the Department of Public Health reported.
Richmond County saw 31 new cases for 19,382 total and Columbia County had 10 more for 10,828. All other area counties added three new cases or fewer: one in Burke for 1,730, three in McDuffie for 1,629, two in Jefferson for 1,560, one in Jenkins for 719, and one in Wilkes for 668. All other counties were unchanged: Screven at 808, Lincoln at 505, Warren at 367 and Glascock at 144. Taliaferro County lost a case to go back to 100.
McDuffie County suffered a new death for 40 total, raising the area’s toll to 1,018.
Georgia Public Health got the results of 18,911 tests, of which 5.31% were positive, a little more than half the overall rate of 10.17%, which fell slightly, according to an analysis by the Augusta Chronicle. The seven-day average for new cases also dropped from 873.57 to 853.86, the analysis showed.
Georgia has given 4,572,187 of the 5,632,725 doses it had been shipped as of Friday, or 81%, Chronicle analysis found. The state was averaging 47,849 shots a day through Friday, according to the analysis.
University Hospital was up to 19 COVID-19 inpatients on Friday, two more than Thursday and nearly double what they had on Monday, spokeswoman Rebecca Sylvester said.
AU Health System went up three Friday to 13 being treated in the hospital and added 21 new positive tests for 12,218 since the pandemic began, spokeswoman Christen Engel said.
Doctors Hospital of Augusta was up one to 12 patients in the hospital and added a new case for 782 total, spokesman Kaden Jacobs said.
The three Augusta hospitals had 25 COVID-19 patients between them on Monday and 44 on Friday, Chronicle analysis found.
Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center in Augusta saw five more cases for 1,827 total, with 12 active cases among 10 veterans and two employees, with one new death for 87 total, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The Augusta VA has fully vaccinated 15,567 between 13,781 veterans and 1,786 employees.
South Carolina added 686 cases to reach 470,153 with six new deaths for 8,144, the Department of Health and Environmental Control reported.
Aiken County saw 17 new cases for 12,570 and Edgefield County had two more for 2,513. Neither county had a new death so they remained at 175 and 28 respectively.
The state got the results of 29,770 new tests, of which 2.3% were positive, less than half the overall positive rate of 6.75%, which fell slightly, Chronicle analysis found. The seven-day average also continued to drop, from 450 to 448, according to the analysis.
