Georgia recorded fewer than 1,000 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday and Monday — the first time in five months the state had fewer than 1,000 confirmed cases on each of two consecutive days.
At the same time Bulloch County recorded only 12 new cases since Friday, but did report its 52nd death. Public Safety/Emergency Management Agency Director Ted Wynn said a 76-year-old woman with prior health issues died from COVID on Saturday.
Across the state, there were 954 new cases on Sunday and 752 on Monday. It was the first time since Oct. 5–6 that Georgia had seen two consecutive days with less than 1,000 cases. Also, Monday was the lowest single-day total since Sept. 28. The state's total number of confirmed cases is now up to 829,077.
The state reported two deaths on Sunday and 43 on Monday. Georgia’s death toll now stands at 15,640 since March 2020.
Reports of new coronavirus cases in Bulloch continue tracking a downward trend. The Georgia Department of Public Health reported only one new local COVID cases on Monday, eight on Sunday and three on Sunday. Wynn said Bulloch now has a total of 5,098 confirmed cases since the pandemic began in March 2020. The COVID cases have resulted in 52 confirmed deaths and 205 local residents being hospitalized since the pandemic began in March.
Vaccinations
Bulloch County has administered 18,041 of the 19,400 total doses received from the state since they became available in late December, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health.
Of those shots, 7,177 are second doses, which means that many are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Through Monday afternoon, 2,360,595 vaccinations have been administered in Georgia — a total that includes 932,301 second doses, according to the Department of Public Health.
Currently, anyone 65 and older is eligible to receive a vaccine along with other groups, including health care workers and law enforcement and rescue personnel.
The eligible group expanded Monday to include preschool and K–12 school employees, adults with intellectual disabilities and their caregivers and parents of children with complex medical conditions will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine in Georgia.
Further eligibility is expected to expand later in March to more people with high-risk health conditions.
Bulloch residents are urged to contact private providers such as East Georgia Regional Medical Center and local pharmacies directly to see if a vaccine appointment is available.
The only way to schedule an appointment at the Bulloch Health Department is to call (855) 473-4374. Officials asked callers to be patient while on hold to make an appointment.
If an appointment is not available at the Altman St. office in Statesboro, they can schedule an appointment at any of the health departments in the area through the same appointment number.
Hospitalizations
Wynn said East Georgia Regional Medical Center staff on Monday were caring for nine COVID patients, with two patients on ventilators.
COVID cases that require hospitalization continue to see a strong decline in Georgia. After setting a single-day high Jan. 13 with 6,108 state residents hospitalized, that number dropped to 2,008 hospitalized on Sunday.
Across the United States, cases that require hospitalization have dropped significantly since hitting a peak on Jan. 6 of 132,474 Americans in the hospital with COVID. On Sunday, hospitalizations had dropped to 40,212. It marked the 54th consecutive day of a decline in hospitalizations.
National case numbers
According to statistics from the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine, as of Monday afternoon, 525,619 Americans had died from coronavirus. Also, Johns Hopkins reported the U.S. has had 29,033,369 confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic.
Bulloch Schools
The Bulloch County Schools system reported seven new cases last week and one so far this week, and a total of 600 COVID cases since classes started on Aug. 17.
Local colleges
Georgia Southern University saw a slight drop in new cases this past week.
Georgia Southern had 20 total cases reported March 1–7 — 15 self-reported and five university-confirmed cases. GS reported 21 total cases for the week of Feb. 22–28.
The 20 new coronavirus cases include 12 on the Statesboro campus, eight on the Armstrong-Savannah campus and none on the Liberty campus in Hinesville.
East Georgia State College reported no new cases across its three campuses over the weekend. The college has had a total of 153 cases across its three campuses since Aug. 17.
Ogeechee Technical College reported two new cases on the Statesboro campus for the week of March 1–7. Ogeechee Tech has had a total of 69 cases across its campuses since Aug. 17.
Testing site
COVID-19 testing operated by Mako Medical is available at Luetta Moore Park, 585 Martin Luther King Drive.
Testing schedule: Monday, Wednesday — 8 a.m.–3 p.m.; Tuesday, Thursday — 10 a.m.–6 p.m.; Friday — 9 a.m.–4 p.m.; second and fourth Saturday of each month — 8:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.
To register, visit https://mako.exchange/splash/GAmakotesting/.