Georgia COVID-19 dashboard updated after five-day absence

State public health agency says ‘issues’ in its reporting resolved.

The state of Georgia updated its COVID-19 online dashboard on Monday for the first time in five days after technical challenges halted daily reports amid the swift-moving omicron wave.

The state Department of Public Health (DPH) dashboard provides information on testing, infections and deaths for the state and each of its counties. DPH provided statewide infection and death information in news releases on Thursday and Friday, but the absence of updated information on the dashboard since Wednesday left the public largely in the dark as the state broke records for daily cases and COVID-19 patients strain already busy hospitals.

The dashboard is a vital tool used by government officials and businesses leaders to guide decisions about the pandemic and whether to open or close operations. Many in the public use it to assess personal risk.

“Today’s dashboard numbers are an accurate reflection of current case and test data,” DPH said Monday. The alert said Monday’s update reflected “the resolution of issues” with its electronic lab reporting system, which is how labs, hospitals and other providers submit electronic testing data.

A promised news release with more information about the technical issues was not produced prior to the AJC’S print deadline.

The seven-day rolling average of new confirmed and probable infections declined Sunday and Monday, the first consecutive days that has happened since Georgia’s fifth surge started after Thanksgiving.

Dr. Harry J. Heiman, a clinical associate professor at the Georgia State University School of Public Health, said it is “hard to know what to conclude given the data interruptions and numerous factors that threaten to worsen the current surge.”

“Sustained daily case numbers averaging over 20,000 is unprecedented,” he said.

Case rates remain more than double the peak of last summer’s delta surge.

The state’s overall case counts are likely an underestimation of spread. High test positivity means the state isn’t testing enough to capture all the infections, and positive at-home rapid tests are likely underreported.

On Monday at 4:30 p.m., Georgia reported 4,992 people were hospitalized statewide for COVID-19, the most since mid-september’s surge. About 85% of inpatient hospital beds are in use, including about 87% of intensive care beds.

Omicron spreads much faster than prior strains of the virus, though initial research suggests a smaller percentage of infections result in hospitalization or death. But public health experts fear omicron’s broad spread could still result in overloaded hospitals.