Georgia virus hospitalizations rise rapidly

Associated Press

ATLANTA, Ga. — Georgia’s coronavirus infections are soaring above their worst peaks of the summer, pushing more people into hospitals and resulting in more deaths.

Hitting a new single-day record of more than 6,000 suspected and confirmed infections on Friday pushed Georgia’s rolling 7-day average to nearly 4,300. For the second straight day, the rolling average of confirmed and suspected infections was above the record average of confirmed infections of 3,745 set on July 24.

In July, the state wasn’t reporting suspected infections because few rapid antigen tests were being administered. But state Public Health Commissioner Kathleen Toomey has said Georgia treats both categories as an infection of the COVID-19 respiratory disease, as advised by the Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention.

The 7-day average of infections has gone up 25% in the past two weeks. And the share of molecular PCR tests coming back positive has risen to nearly 12% in Georgia, the worst since early August and a number that suggests there are many more undetected cases in the population.

“It’s the fall surge we have been expecting around the country,” Dr. Jeffrey Stephens, director of infection prevention for the Medical Center Navicent Health in Macon, told WMAZ-TV.

Not everyone shows symptoms, and most people recover, but a small fraction sicken and die. Hospitalizations have not yet reached their summer heights in Georgia, but beds are filling rapidly with COVID-19 cases. Nearly 2,400 COVID-19 patients were in the hospital Friday, up 32% in the last two weeks.