'A Delta Surge': Kemp Deploys More National Guard To GA Hospitals

ATLANTA, GA — Almost all new COVID-19 cases in Georgia are from the coronavirus's delta variant, and nearly all Georgians currently hospitalized due to the virus are unvaccinated, according to Dr. Kathleen Toomey, director of the Georgia Department of Public Health. So Gov. Brian Kemp is preparing to send more National Guard troops to state hospitals and incentivize government employees to get the jab.

Kemp and Toomey gave an update Monday on COVID-19 in the state, reporting 12,233 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday — one of the highest daily case rates ever recorded since the pandemic began, Toomey said.

Georgia is also breaking its own record in the highest number of weekly outbreaks since the pandemic began, recording 170 outbreaks statewide, Toomey said Monday. More than half of those outbreaks were among K-12 public schools.

"This is indeed a delta surge," Toomey said. "Virtually 100 percent of all our cases are delta variant, and we're now approaching among the worst cases, both in terms of case numbers and hospitalizations since January, in some cases actually worse in some parts of the state than we were in January."

There were 19,083 new COVID-19 cases reported in Georgia between Sunday and Monday, according to DPH data, with 85 confirmed new deaths and 581 new hospitalizations. The sharpest increase in the last several weeks has been in the 11-17 age range, Toomey said.

"Schools are a site where there is COVID transmission going on, and we're working hard with superintendents to try to address these issues in the schools," she said.

More than 100 Georgia National Guard personnel were deployed last week to 10 Georgia hospitals to aid in COVID-19 treatment, including Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta and Wellstar Kennestone Hospital in Marietta. Kemp signed another executive order Monday allowing him to deploy up to 2,500 additional National Guard troops to help combat the delta surge.

He also created a subsidy to incentivize COVID-19 vaccinations among state employees and retirees. Under it, about 325,000 Georgians covered by the State Health Benefit Plan who are fully vaccinated will be eligible for a "well-being incentive," which qualifies them for $150 Visa gift card or $480 in credits for health care expenses, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

Additionally, nearly all COVID-19-related hospitalizations and deaths in Georgia are unvaccinated people, Toomey said. She acknowledged that someone can still get infected or possibly die from COVID-19 even with a vaccine, but she and Kemp both added that the risk of hospitalization or death is far lower when vaccinated.

"I know that there are people out there that have vaccine hesitancy for obvious reasons, dating back to the Tuskegee experiment," Kemp said, referring to the ethically unjustified Tuskegee syphilis study in which the U.S. Public Health Service tested on Black men without their informed consent.

"Ninety-five percent of the people in the hospital with COVID have not been vaccinated. ... We need to unite and focus on [vaccines] instead of having mandates. All that does is continue to divide people and make them angry, which leads to conflict and that is not where we need to be in our state," he said.

Kemp also said he will redirect $4.5 million to the Georgia Coordinating Center, which tracks hospital bed space and ambulance traffic, for more staff and improved technical infrastructure.

To find where to get vaccinated or tested near you, visit the Georgia Department of Public Health's website.

Related:

• National Guard To Help Front-Line Health Workers Across GA
• Metro ATL Hospital Officials Unite For 'Urgent' COVID-19 Update
• GA Hits 1M Recorded Coronavirus Cases Since Start Of Pandemic
• Anti-Vax Health Workers Picket Wellstar Corporate HQ
• Ambulances Turned Away At Wellstar North Fulton From Overcrowding
• Patients Turned Away At Wellstar Douglas Because Of Overcrowding
• Ambulances Turned Away At Wellstar Cobb, Kennestone Hospitals
• 'Severe Overcrowding' At Emory Hospitals Throughout DeKalb County
• 'Severely Overcrowded' Cartersville ER Turning Away Ambulances
• COVID Booster Shots Now Available In Bartow For Immunocompromised
• COVID Booster Shots Available In Paulding For Immunocompromised
• Kemp Pushes COVID-19 Vaccine While Continuing To Refuse Mandates