Georgia Protests May Be Petri Dishes For COVID-19 Spread

ATLANTA, GA — The latest hot spots for the spread of COVID-19 may be the Black Lives Matter protests now roiling Georgia, according to the state’s top doctor.

Dr. Kathleen Toomey, head of Georgia’s Department of Public Health, said as much during Tuesday’s news briefing by Gov. Brian Kemp on the demonstrations.

“This situation is no different than any other situation we have talked about," Toomey said. "When you have this many people gathered together in close proximity, you run the risk of viral transmission."

Both Kemp and Toomey advised protesters and first responders to get tested as soon as possible. They also urged Georgians to keep using precautions such as social distancing as the state reopens for business.

Protests or not, the disease has continued to spread throughout Georgia. Wednesday’s report from the Georgia Department of Public Health shows three more counties — Gilmer, Liberty and Lincoln — recorded their first deaths this week from COVID-19. That leaves only 22 rural counties of Georgia’s 159 total to report a coronavirus fatality.

As of Wednesday, there have been 48, 894 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Georgia, 2,123 deaths, 8,419 hospitalizations and 1,841 people admitted to the ICU. More than 574,000 Georgians have been tested for the coronavirus, with a reported positive rate of 8.5 percent using both viral and antibody tests.

Counties in or near metro Atlanta continue to have the highest number of cases, with Fulton County in first with 4,688 confirmed positives. Gwinnett is now second with 4,063 cases, while DeKalb is third with 3,874, Cobb is fourth with 3,097 and Hall is fifth with 2,539. The latest statistics also identify 1,338 cases of COVID-19 as from "unknown" counties, with 2,183 cases counted as "Non-Georgia."

Fulton County reports the most deaths, with 244, followed by Cobb County, with 186. Dougherty County in southwest Georgia, site of the state's earliest hot spot, holds steady at third with 149 deaths. Rounding out the top five counties are Gwinnett in fourth with 135 deaths and DeKalb in fifth with 122 deaths.