Cobb state of emergency extended until Oct. 17

Officials plan to hold some public meetings remotely.

Cobb County Chairwoman Lisa Cupid on Friday extended the countywide state of emergency for 30 more days.

Cupid declared the emergency order, which was set to expire Friday, on Aug. 19 as the delta variant was causing hospitalization rates to surge across metro Atlanta and throughout the U.S.

The extended declaration includes a new measure that will allow county officials to hold some public meetings remotely or have portions of the meetings virtual.

The renewed order, which activates Cobb’s emergency operations plan, now extends to Oct. 17. It will allow the county to maintain authority to deploy personnel and resources to local hospitals and help state agencies that may need equipment and supplies to combat the surge.

Available hospital beds were critically low last month, when the emergency order went into effect. The county’s COVID-19 cases were on the rise and they eclipsed 860 confirmed cases per 100,000 residents this month.

But the delta surge appears to have reached its peak and cases are on the downturn, District Health Director of Cobb & Douglas Public Health Dr. Janet Memark said.

The county’s 14-day case rate had fallen to 731 cases per 100,000 by Friday, according to the health department.

Despite the drop in cases, Wellstar Kennestone and Wellstar Cobb, the two hospitals in Cobb County that treat COVID-19 patients, remain severely overcrowded due to the pandemic.

“Although recent reports from Public Health have the case rate for COVID-19 in Cobb slightly declining, we are still more than seven times the level of what is considered the high transmission of COVID-19,” Cupid said in a statement Friday. “We continue to need to have the ability to move resources quickly and provide ways for people to participate in our county government activities in a safe manner.”