ATLANTA — The state of Georgia is still in a "full pandemic resurgence" and now ranks fourth in the nation for hospital admissions per 100 beds, according to the latest White House Coronavirus Task Force report.
The Jan.10 state report indicates that the state has seen an increase in new cases despite declines in testing. Georgia is still in the red zone for new cases and test positivity.
The report ranks Georgia at having the 16th highest rate in the country for new cases and 8th in the nation for test positivity.
"Between Jan 2-Jan 8, on average, 796 patients with confirmed COVID-19 and 215 patients with suspected COVID-19 were reported as newly admitted each day to hospitals in Georgia," the report states.
That's a 13 percent increase in total new COVID-19 hospital admissions.
As more people land in the hospital battling the virus, community spread is still a top concern for health officials. In fact, 98 percent of all Georgia counties have moderate or high levels of community transmission, the report indicates.
These three counties, which represent 24.7 percent of new cases, had the highest number of new COVID-19 cases over the last three weeks:
- Gwinnett County,
- Fulton County
- Cobb County
"This fall/winter surge has been at nearly twice the rate of rise of cases as the spring and summer surges. This acceleration and the epidemiologic data suggest the possibility that some strains of the US COVID-19 virus may have evolved into a more transmissible virus," the report states. "Given that possibility, and the presence of the UK variant that is already spreading in our communities and may be 50 percent more transmissible, we must be ready for and mitigate a much more rapid transmission."
Last week, Georgia health officials did confirm the new COVID-19 variant first discovered in the United Kingdom, is now in the state. The Georgia resident, an 18-year-old, had no travel history.
"Georgia is in full pandemic resurgence and will experience continued increases in new COVID admissions and fatalities," the report said.
The aggressive mitigation must be used to tackle the virus, the task force report said. Getting those 65 and older vaccinated should be a priority along with continuing efforts of getting people tested and encouraging mask wearing.