GA Posts Almost 3.2K New COVID-19 Cases, Death Toll Nears 3K

ATLANTA, GA — Georgia reported nearly 3,200 new positive tests for COVID-19 in data posted Saturday on the state’s health-department.

Also, 31 more people were reported to have died over the last 24 hours, pushing the state’s death total to close to 3,000.

The Georgia Department of Public Health reported a total of 114,401 confirmed tests for COVID-19 at 2:50 p.m. Saturday. That's 3,190 more than was reported at the same time Friday. Georgia’s record for most new COVID-19 positive tests in a day is 4,484, set on Friday.

Georgia also reported 2,996 deaths from COVID-19, 31 more that reported Friday. In addition, the state reported 13,205 hospitalizations — 268 more than the day before — and 2,610 total admissions to intensive-care units.

Counties in or near metro Atlanta continue to have the highest number of positives, with Gwinnett still in the lead.

• Gwinnett County: 11,074 positives — 333 new
• Fulton County: 10,354 positives — 333 new
• DeKalb County: 8,144 positives — 171 new
• Cobb County: 6,940 positives — 232 new
• Hall County: 3,774 positives — 61 new

Counties in or near metro Atlanta also continue to have the highest number of deaths. The lone exception is Dougherty County, the site of Georgia's first major outbreak.

• Fulton County: 324 deaths
• Cobb County: 253 deaths
• Gwinnett County: 182 deaths
• DeKalb County: 181 deaths
• Dougherty County: 156 deaths

As of Saturday, more than 1.2 million Georgians have been tested for COVID-19, with about 14 percent of those tests the less reliable ones used to detect antibodies.

For the first time on July 8, Georgia's COVID-19 website reported separately the percentage of positive results for each type of test without reporting a cumulative percentage. For the more reliable test for the virus itself, 9.7 percent of tests came back positive. For the less reliable test for antibodies, 5.1 percent came back positive. The overall positive rate was about 9 percent.

All Georgia statistics are available on the state's COVID-19 website.

Globally, more than 12.5 million people have been infected by COVID-19, and nearly 562,000 people have died, Johns Hopkins University reported Saturday. In the United States, more than 3.2 million people have been infected and more than 134,000 people have died from COVID-19.

The U.S. has only about 4 percent of the world's population but more confirmed positive tests for COVID-19 and more deaths than any other country.

OTHER NEWS:

• Gwinnett Man Who Sabotaged PPE Shipment Pleads Guilty To Feds
• Gov. Kemp: Atlanta's Face Mask Mandate Is 'Unenforceable'