Athens area COVID update: New cases in Clarke County declining

Since the pandemic started, Georgia has seen 1.5 million cases of COVID-19, including both PCR and antigen tests, according to information from the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH).

In the last two weeks, DPH reports that approximately1,200 people have died in the state out of a total 21,426 deaths since the pandemic started.

Vaccination rates in the United States have reached 75% of people at least 12 years old having had at least one dose and 64% being fully vaccinated. 

The average number of COVID-19 cases in Clarke County continues its September decrease.

COVID-19 cases, vaccination rate in Clarke County

In the last two weeks, Athens has seen a total of 940 reported cases of COVID-19, equivalent to 724 cases per 100,000 residents, as of Sept. 20. 

Amid the spike of the Delta variant, Clarke County’s seven-day moving average of COVID-19 cases has been decreasing throughout September. 

The Georgia Department of Public Health tracks daily COVID-19 case data, including the “seven-day moving average” — a metric that averages the number of cases in the prior seven days and is used to "better visualize trends" according to DPH.

This data point most recently peaked on Aug. 31, when the case average per day was 104.6, and as of Sept. 20, it was an average of 59.1.

Since March 2020, there have been 156 confirmed COVID-19-related deaths in the county and six probable deaths, according to DPH. 

DPH reports that as of Sept. 20, 47% of Clarke County residents have at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 43% of residents are fully vaccinated.

COVID-19 cases, vaccination rate in Oconee County

In the last two weeks, Oconee County has seen a total of 332 reported cases of COVID-19, the equivalent of 795 cases per every 100,000 residents. 

Oconee County has not seen the same clear decrease in the seven-day moving average as Clarke County.

In total, there have been 69 confirmed deaths in the county and seven probable deaths, according to DPH. There have been 168 hospitalizations of Oconee County residents.

DPH reports that 61% of Oconee County residents have at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 56% of residents are fully vaccinated.

Athens area hospital data

Piedmont Athens Regional Hospital and St. Mary’s Hospital are the two hospitals in Athens. Information from the Georgia Geospatial Information Office, a government office, presents Georgia hospital data by region. 

Both of Athens’ hospitals are located in Region E, which also includes other surrounding counties. The information from the geospatial office indicates capacity levels, including whether or not the hospital is “on diversion,” a phrase that means that a hospital could not accept any EMS (emergency medical services) patients.

These statuses change frequently throughout the day and hospitals’ most current and updated status can be found on the Georgia Coordinating Center website.

As of the evening of Sept. 20, both Piedmont hospital and St. Mary’s hospital were classified as “busy” and each were on diversion for its ICU and CCU, while Piedmont was additionally on medical diversion 

If St. Mary’s Hospital is on diversion while the Piedmont hospital is not, then EMS patients will be taken to Piedmont. This is the same if Piedmont is on diversion while St. Mary’s is not. 

If both hospitals are on diversion at the same time, then EMS will alternate sending patients between the two hospitals.

“Both St. Mary’s Athens and Piedmont Athens Regional are used to serving several surrounding counties as referral centers, but now the critically ill population in the immediate vicinity exceeds our standard intensive care beds. Piedmont Athens has expanded its intensive care units into other areas of the hospital,” wrote Andrew C. McKown, a pulmonary and critical care physician at Piedmont Athens Regional, in a recent column.

For the region, there were 230 COVID-19 patients in medical facilities, or approximately 35% of hospital patients, on Sept. 20.

Though not specifically COVID-related, as of Sept. 20 the region was at 85.9% capacity for inpatient beds. The region's ICU beds in use were at  95.7% capacity, and emergency department beds were at 54.5% capacity. There were 51 adult ventilators in use or 52% of ventilators in the region. 

Clarke, Oconee school-aged data

In Clarke, those 15 to 24 years old have the lowest vaccination rate by age, with 21.5% of those in that age group have received at least one dose. 

In Oconee County, those 15 to 19 years old have the lowest vaccination rate but are at 54% with at least one dose. Those 20 to 24 years old have a vaccination rate of 78% with at least one dose, a higher rate than older age groups in the county.  

A school-aged COVID-19 data report was generated with data as recent as Sept. 17. The report breaks down grouping by age: preschool and daycare-aged children, from ages 0 to 4 years old; K-12 school-aged children, from ages 5 to 17 years old; and college and professional school-aged adults, from ages 18 to 22 years old; and then adults who are  23 years or older.

DPH's school-aged data report shows that in the last 14 days, Clarke County reported:

• 49 cases of COVID-19 in the preschool age group, a decrease from the last report
• 201 cases in the K-12 age group, a decrease from the last report
• 361 cases in the college-age group, a decrease from the last report 
• 607 cases in the adult age group, a decrease from the last report

DPH's school-aged data report shows that in the last 14 days, Oconee County reported:

• 15 cases of COVID-19 in the preschool age group,  the same as the last report
• 96 cases in the K-12 age group, an increase from the last report
• 35 cases in the college-age group, an increase from the last report 
• 223 cases in the adult age group, an increase from the last report

The Clarke County School District uses a dashboard with COVID-19 data, which is updated hourly. The dashboard shows that as of Monday evening, 0.2% of students and staff were currently in quarantine. Within the past two weeks, 170 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed. 

A weekly status report for Oconee County Schools reported that as of Sept. 17, there were 33 active COVID-19 cases in the district or 0.35% of all students and staff.

At the University of Georgia, for the week of Sept. 5-20, there were 164 reported positive cases, a decrease from the week prior, which was 514 reported cases. 

This article has been corrected due to an error that said, "In the last two weeks, Georgia saw a total of 1.5 million new cases of COVID-19." This has been updated to reflect that Georgia has seen a total of 1.5 million cases since the pandemic started.