Voccio: ‘Covid ‘still on our radar’
A dozen virus deaths are reported in the district over the past month.
Covid “is still on our radar” across Northwest Georgia, says Dr. Dr. Gary Voccio, even as new reported cases continue to decline.
One reason, says Voccio, is a dozen virus deaths over the past month across the 10-county Georgia Department of Public Health district where he serves as health director. A Gordon County resident was the latest to die in the latest reported time frame of March 1-8.
While there’s been “a significant reduction in our number of covid cases” in the past year, the pandemic is especially focused on older residents, he says.
Voccio said 19% of the current local cases involve those over 60 but that age group represents almost half of all those hospitalized for covid in Northwest Georgia.
He again urged area residents to get vaccinated — less than 50% have done so — as well as the latest boosters.
The state health department’s weekly report, posted Wednesday, March 8, shows how cases are dropping across Northwest Georgia.
For the seven days, 98 new cases were reported together from Floyd, Bartow, Gordon, Polk and Chattooga counties. That’s down from 134 the previous week. The breakdown:
♦ Floyd: 35 new cases vs. 64 for the week ending March 1.
♦ Bartow: 38 cases, up from 35.
♦ Gordon: 7 new cases vs. 19.
♦ Polk: 12 cases, one more than last week.
♦ Chattooga: 6 cases, also up by one case.
Statewide: 2,306 new cases were reported, down from 3,017 through March 1. Another 49 people died statewide vs. 69 a week earlier.
That total includes one fatality from Gordon County, the 260th covid victim there since March 2020. Floyd recorded another probable death as well last week.