While the state of Georgia continues to see spikes above 1,500 new COVID-19 cases reported each day, Bulloch County has seen daily cases fall mostly below 10 in the past month.

For Tuesday and Wednesday, Public Safety/Emergency Management Agency Director Ted Wynn said Bulloch reported four new cases each day. Since Sept. 27, Bulloch has had 10 or more new cases six times, with a high of 17 on Oct. 23. The county has now recorded 3,093 COVID total cases, which have resulted in 33 deaths and 144 local residents being hospitalized since the pandemic began in March.

In his report Wednesday, Wynn said East Georgia Regional Medical Center staff were caring for 15 patients, with seven patients on ventilators.

Bulloch EMS has transported a total of 128 people with probable COVID-19 and 138 with confirmed cases.

Georgia reported 1,623 news cases on Tuesday and 1,734 on Wednesday, bringing the state’s total number of confirmed cases up to 355,025. Georgia reported 18 deaths Tuesday and 34 on Wednesday, raising the death toll to 7,876.

As of Wednesday afternoon, 227,177 Americans had died from coronavirus, and the U.S. had recorded 8,817,851 confirmed cases, according to statistics from the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine.

Bulloch Schools

Bulloch County Schools recorded two new cases on Tuesday and none on Wednesday. The schools system now has had a total of 117 COVID cases since Aug. 17.

Local colleges

Georgia Southern saw a decline of five cases for the week of Oct. 19-25, dropping to 14 new cases after reporting 19 new cases for the week of Oct. 12–18. All of the new cases were on the Statesboro campus. Georgia Southern will report again next Monday, Nov. 2.

East Georgia State College has not reported any new cases on any of its three campuses since last Wednesday. The college has had a total of 92 cases across its three campuses since Aug. 17.

Ogeechee Technical College reported one new COVID cases on its campuses the week of Oct. 19–25. The college has had a total of 37 cases across its campuses since Aug. 17.

OTC will report again next Monday, Nov. 2.

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.