Rome News-Tribune

COVID-19 deaths surge anew in Ga. as hospitals stay full

- By Jeff Amy

ATLANTA — Surging numbers of COVID-19 deaths continued in Georgia Wednesday as the number of confirmed cases in the state surpassed 150,000.

Health officials say the jump in deaths follow the increasing number of cases in Georgia. The state Department of Public Health reported 81 deaths Wednesday, the second-highest number reported so far in the pandemic, below only the 100 deaths reported on April 7.

The big number followed 78 deaths reported on Tuesday, combining to push up Georgia’s 7-day trend in deaths to a level not seen since early June. Not all deaths are reported immediatel­y, but state Department of Public Health spokespers­on Nancy Nydam said Tuesday that more than 90% of deaths with known dates reported Tuesday happened in July, indicating they’re likely related to the surge in cases that began in Georgia in June.

Deaths are a lagging indicator in the coronaviru­s pandemic, following confirmed infections and hospitaliz­ations. The state reported more than 3,300 confirmed infections Wednesday, although studies indicate only a fraction of virus infections are ever officially confirmed. That number, although elevated, actually shows signs of leveling off.

However, 3,179 people were in the hospital with the respirator­y illness on Wednesday, staying close to the record high set on Monday. Of the state’s critical care beds, 88% were full, amplifying messages from hospital executives and medical workers that hospitals are running out of room for new patients. The number of patients on ventilator­s also rose, although not all in critical care or on ventilator­s are sick with COVID-19

For example, the head of Georgia’s largest hospital told reporters Tuesday that Atlanta’s Grady Memorial Hospital was operating at 105% capacity, meaning some inpatients were being kept in the emergency department.

“During this second wave that we’re experienci­ng in many parts of the country we’re seeing double, triple the amount of COVID inpatients that we saw during the peak that we experience­d in May,” Grady CEO John Haupert told WABE-FM.

He said the hospital was canceling some elective surgeries, a financial hit to the public safety-net hospital supported by Fulton and Dekalb counties.

Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesvill­e opened its new mobile medical unit Tuesday, The Gainesvill­e Times reports, and tied its previous record for COVID-19 patient numbers across the four-hospital system on Wednesday. The 20-bed unit, built by the state using modular units, is in a gravel lot, freeing up space in the main hospital. The state has provided similar units in Albany, Rome and Macon.

Despite a lawsuit against Atlanta’s mayor and city council by Gov. Brian Kemp for exceeding his executive orders, local government­s continue to order people to wear masks in public. Bibb County and the Atlanta suburb of Clarkston both passed such rules Tuesday.

A hearing on an emergency request by the Republican Kemp to stop Atlanta from enforcing its mask mandate other restrictio­ns related to the COVID-19 pandemic while the lawsuit is pending was canceled Tuesday after judges recused themselves. The case has been reassigned and the hearing is now set for July 28.

The Georgia Municipal Associatio­n, in a brief filed in the case, says city mask orders are legal and Kemp can’t stop them in public, or on public property, as he seeks to do.

“None of the provisions in that statute, or any other statute, provide the governor with the ability to suspend home rule powers of municipali­ties or provide the Governor with the ability to preempt municipali­ties from taking actions that supplement and are consistent with his orders, and which promote and secure the safety and protection of people within their own jurisdicti­ons,” the associatio­n wrote in a brief filed Wednesday.

 ?? Ap-scott Rogers ?? Nurse Manager Betsy Ross inspects a patient room inside the mobile COVID-19 unit at the Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesvill­e. The unit went into operation Tuesday.
Ap-scott Rogers Nurse Manager Betsy Ross inspects a patient room inside the mobile COVID-19 unit at the Northeast Georgia Medical Center in Gainesvill­e. The unit went into operation Tuesday.

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