AUGUSTA, Ga. – Both Georgia and South Carolina saw slight increases in new COVID-19 infections but relatively few deaths and the Augusta area saw no new deaths for a third straight day. All three Augusta hospitals saw a small uptick in new patients, however.
Georgia added 967 new cases, the first time above 800 in three days, to reach 857,307 with 12 new deaths for a toll of 16,761, the Department of Public Health reported.
Richmond County saw 10 new cases and was the only area county besides Aiken to see a double-digit increase. Only two other counties saw increases on the Georgia side, with five in Columbia for 10,807 and three in Screven for 805. All other area counties were unchanged: Burke at 1,729, McDuffie at 1,624, Jefferson at 1,557, Jenkins at 716, Wilkes at 667, Lincoln at 504, Warren at 367, Glascock at 143 and Taliaferro at 100.
With no new deaths, the area’s toll remained at 1,008.
Georgia Public Health got the results of 14,659 tests, of which 6.6% were positive, well below the overall positive rate of 10.21%, which fell slightly, according to an analysis by the Augusta Chronicle. The seven-day average rose, however, from 846.71 to 857.29, the analysis found.
Georgia has given 4,260,576 of the 5,649,105 doses it had been allocated through Tuesday, or 75% of what it had been shipped, according to public health data. Georgia was allocated 920,005 additional doses this week and was averaging 46,414 shots a day though Tuesday, according to Chronicle analysis.
University Hospital was back up to 16 COVID-19 inpatients after discharging one patient and admitting seven, spokeswoman Rebecca Sylvester said.
AU Health System had nine patients in the hospital, one more than Monday, and had 53 new positive tests to reach 26,149 since the pandemic began, spokeswoman Christen Engel said.
Doctors Hospital of Augusta saw one more to nine patients being treated in the hospital and two more cases for 780 total, spokesman Kaden Jacobs said.
Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center in Augusta had two more cases for 1,821 total, with 12 active cases among 11 veterans and one employee, and remained at 86 deaths, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The Augusta VA has fully vaccinated 15,137 between 13,370 veterans and 1,767 employees.
South Carolina added 775 new cases to reach 468,525 with one new death for 8,112, the Department of Health and Environmental Control reported.
Aiken County saw 17 new cases for 12,534 while Edgefield County had four more for 2,502. Neither county had a new death so they remained at 174 and 28 respectively.
The state got the results of 32,165 tests, of which 2.41% were positive, less than half the overall rate of 6.69%, which dropped slightly, Chronicle analysis found. The seven-day average for new cases rose, however, from 459 to 483, according to the analysis.
