Hospitalizations from the latest wave of COVID-19 continue to climb rapidly in Georgia, as hundreds of thousands of students statewide returned to in-person class Tuesday and Wednesday, but others stayed home.
Georgia’s surge continues to be centered around Atlanta, although cases are rippling outward into the rest of the state.
Nearly 4,000 people were hospitalized Tuesday with COVID-19 statewide, a number that has more than tripled in the past two weeks.
At East Georgia Regional Medical Center in Statesboro Wednesday, 17 patients with COVID-19 were hospitalized, with three needing ventilators. Three weeks ago, the hospital had two COVID patients and none needed a ventilator.
Many K-12 students returned to class Wednesday, although school systems in Atlanta, Clayton County, DeKalb County, Forsyth County, Fulton County and Rockdale County will learn virtually this week. Learning at home in those six districts affects more than 350,000 students, or about 20% of Georgia's 1.74 million students statewide.
A number of other school systems re-imposed mask mandates for students and employees.
Bulloch County public schools also resumed classes Wednesday following the Christmas break with no changes to conducting classes.
New cases, hospitalizations
The Georgia Department of Public Health failed to report case and death data Monday, saying its system was overwhelmed by a large amount of data. The numbers released Tuesday indicated more than 67,000 new cases were reported over three days – Jan. 1-3.
The state has gone from a seven-day average of 976 cases per day on Dec. 1 to 19,411 cases per day on Jan. 4. Similarly, the U.S. as whole has seen the average number of cases per day rise from 94,930 on Dec. 2 to 547,613 on Tuesday, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
Hospitalizations in metro Atlanta's two core hospital districts are now as high or higher than during the delta wave in late summer. Almost 40% of all patients in a hospital district in Atlanta's northwest suburbs have tested positive for COVID-19.
Although 18 Atlanta-area emergency rooms were turning away ambulances Tuesday afternoon, that number was lower than last week. However, hospitals in Macon and Augusta were showing strain, turning away inbound ambulances and new intensive care patients. About 84% of all intensive care beds were in use statewide Tuesday.
Health officials are also alarmed by the share of tests coming back positive. That level, approaching 40% statewide, suggests undetected infections are extremely widespread.
“We are seeing the explosive growth in COVID infections and hospitalizations that we anticipated in southwest Georgia and throughout the state," said Scott Steiner, CEO of Albany-based Phoebe Putney Health System. “The current transmission rate is clearly outpacing anything we have been through in previous surges.”
Republican Gov. Brian Kemp on Tuesday detailed how he was deploying National Guard soldiers to help at COVID-19 testing sites and hospitals. Kemp said he will send 96 soldiers to help with 16 testing sites in seven public health districts and the state Public Health Department warehouse. He said another 102 personnel will be assigned to 11 hospitals in metro Atlanta, Albany, Augusta, Gainesville, Macon, Warner Robins and Thomaston.