ATLANTA — Georgia will no longer receive daily updates regarding the coronavirus pandemic.
Starting April 20, the Georgia Department of Health will transition into weekly COVID-19 reporting. The agency said virus case data, including vaccination updates, will be published on its website every Wednesday thereafter.
"Weekly intervals provide a more complete picture than day-to-day changes or data fluctuations when determining areas of concern or COVID's trajectory in the state," officials said in a news release. "Given the number of at-home COVID tests that do not get reported, there is a now a greater focus on other indicators such as hospital admissions, hospital occupancy, and overall vaccination rates when assessing the community impact of COVID-19."
Per CDC guidance, only positive and negative PCR test results and positive antigen tests are required to be reported.
"Facilities no longer need to report negative results from antigen or rapid tests, and they no longer need to report any positive or negative results for antibody tests. Home tests also are not reportable," the agency said.
Due to the change, DPH said it will remove several columns from its data table including "total antigen" and "total antibody."
Other data that are typically reported weekly such as the school-aged surveillance report and county indicate will continue to publish on their dedicated days, agency leaders said.
To learn more about how DPH is changing its reporting, click here.