COVID-19 cases beginning to increase in Towns County
News August 10, 2021
HIAWASSEE, Ga – Towns County’s beginning to see an increase in cases possibly due to the spread of the Delta Variant in Georgia or people returning to normal.
According to Georgia Department of Health (DPH) Data, all North Georgia is again listed as high transmission communities as of August 9, 2021.
The Towns County indicator report, which comes out every two weeks, noted that from 7/24 – 7/30 11 cases of COVID-19 were confirmed, but the next week, the numbers grew to 29 confirmed cases.
Cases only recently began to increase in Towns. The county’s confirmed data has been a flat line since July 8, 2021.
High transmission counties according to DPH data.
COVID-19 associated emergency visits at the hospital between 7/30 – 8/6 were 17 percent. The previous week’s data was not calculated. Respiratory-related visits for the same time frame were 8 percent.
The statewide death rate doesn’t appear to match the recent surge in cases. However, this data takes a few weeks after the initial confirmed cases uptick to determine. Still, both numbers increase almost daily.
Health officials are urging the unvaccinated to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
“Unfortunately, we can expect COVID numbers to keep growing. People who are unvaccinated or skip their second dose of vaccine are targets for infection,” said Kathleen E. Toomey, M.D., M.P.H., commissioner of the Georgia Department of Public Health. “Getting vaccinated is the best way to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and the Delta variant. High vaccination coverage will reduce spread of the virus in your community and elsewhere – and help prevent new variants from emerging.”
Vaccination rates in Towns County reached 45 for fully vaccinated and 48 percent with at least one shot.
Some breakthrough infections of COVID-19 are occurring among the vaccinated, but it’s a small portion. According to DPH, of the 4 million fully vaccinated, 0.12 percent have tested positive, and 0.00058 percent have died.
Courtesy of DPH
The Delta Variant has proven to be more contagious than previous iterations of COVID-19. Some data on variant suggests more severe illness can result from infection than the original strain. According to the CDC, vaccinated individuals who experience a symptomatic breakthrough can transmit the virus to others. At this time, it’s unclear if an asymptomatic breakthrough can transmit it to others. Vaccinated people do appear to be infectious for a shorter amount of time.
The CDC recommends that everyone, even fully vaccinated, wear a mask indoors in high transmission areas.
Towns County Health Department delivers COVID-19 update
Community, News July 22, 2020
HIAWASSEE, Ga – Towns County Health Department (TCHD) Office Manager Laura Ide delivered a COVID-19 update during the July Towns Commission meeting.
Approximately 1 in 698 Towns residents has had a confirmed case of the virus. As of July 21, 84 total cases were reported out of a population of 12,034 with one death and 13 total hospitalizations. The hospitalization number reflected overall cases since March, not the number of current active cases in Chatuge Regional Hospital.
Only three percent of confirmed cases experience severe symptoms, according to the CDC.
“The CDC says it does not act like any known virus,” said Ide.
Over 1,000 COVID-19 nasal swab tests were administered by the TCHD, but some of these were retests from people returned for another exam. As one of six testing sites in Public Health District Two, TCHD often receives patients from neighboring counties and states. The facility conducts drive-up COVID-19 exams once a week on Fridays from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Ide assessed it’s been crazy times at the TCHD during her COVID-19 update.
Nasal swab only tests from active COVID-19 cases; it’s not an antibody test. If a person has the virus at the time of the swab test, it will result in a positive.
Currently, it takes between seven to ten days for results to come back. Those interested in getting tested are encouraged to call their local health department to set up an appointment time. However, Laura stated that people who just show up will be worked into the schedule.
An epidemiologist in Union County performs contact tracing for TCHD. Previously, the epidemiologist in Gainesville tried to cover the entire Public Health District Two, but it proved impossible to accurately monitor 13 counties. Now, several epidemiologists assist in the process.
Additionally, restaurant workers must wear masks as part of Gov. Brian Kemp’s executive order.
Recovery numbers aren’t available in the state of Georgia at this time.
Current testing schedule for Public Health District Two.