Eight days after setting a single day record for most new COVID cases, Georgia set another record Friday, with 6,149 confirmed cases and completed its worst week for new coronavirus infections since the pandemic began in March.
The Georgia Department of Health said in its daily report that the state had 33,361 new cases in the past seven days, an average of 4,765 cases per day.
Also, a record number of people continue to remain in state hospitals in Georgia with confirmed COVID-19 infections, another signal that infections are now more widespread than at the previous summer peak, as public health authorities sought to raise the alarm that the coronavirus is spreading unabated across the state.
There have been 3,352 COVID patients hospitalized in Georgia every day since Tuesday, the COVID Tracking Project reported as of Thursday.
In Bulloch County Public Safety/Emergency Management Agency Director Ted Wynn said the 10 new cases for Thursday and 15 on Friday pushes Bulloch’s total to 3,511 COVID cases, which have resulted in 35 deaths and 156 local residents being hospitalized since the pandemic began in March.
Also, the state Department of Health is reporting an additional 21 deaths in Bulloch probably were caused by COVID. According to the Georgia DPH, the 21 non-confirmed deaths represent Bulloch citizens who received a positive antigen/rapid test for COVID-19, developed COVID-19 symptoms and subsequently died.
In his Friday report, Wynn said East Georgia Regional Medical Center was treating 19 COVID patients, with six patients on ventilators.
Hospitalizations
More Americans continue to be hospitalized than at any point since the pandemic began in March.
A record high 114,237 virus patients were hospitalized in the United States as of Thursday, according to the COVID Tracking Project. It was the twentieth day in the past 21 that a new record was set for national hospitalizations.
State, national case numbers
Georgia recorded 5,890 new cases Thursday and the record-setting 6,149 on Friday, pushing the state's total number of confirmed cases up to 500,265. Georgia reported 38 deaths on Friday, raising the death toll to 9,396.
According to statistics from the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine, as of Friday afternoon, 312,219 Americans had died from coronavirus. Also, Johns Hopkins reported the U.S. has had 17,326,926 confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic.
Bulloch Schools
The Bulloch County Schools system has reported 19 new cases this week for a total of 228 COVID cases since classes started on Aug. 17.
Local colleges
Georgia Southern saw the same number of cases for the week of Dec. 7-13 as the previous week, reporting 26 new cases. Georgia Southern will report again on Monday.
East Georgia State College reported one new case of COVID-19 on Thursday, its first since Dec. 10. The college has had a total of 105 cases across its three campuses since Aug. 17.
Ogeechee Technical College reported one new positive COVID test for the week of Dec. 6-13. The college has had a total of 39 cases across its campuses since Aug. 17.
Testing sites
The Bulloch County Health Department, 1 W. Altman St. in Statesboro, continues to serve as a COVID-19 testing site, or specimen point of collection. It operates 8 a.m. till noon Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. To schedule a free test, call (855) 473-4374 or visit www.sehdph.org/covid-19, where a test can be scheduled online.
Additional free COVID-19 testing continues Thursdays from 9 a.m. to noon at Luetta Moore Park, 121 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.