Another 1,500+ COVID-19 Cases Monday: GA Health Department

ATLANTA, GA — On the same day a second Atlanta Braves player decided to sit out the season due to the pandemic, Georgia reported yet another day of more than 1,500 confirmed cases of COVID-19.

At the same time, the percentage of positive tests dropped back under 9 percent. It had hovered near 8 percent before slowly starting to rise over the last few weeks.

The Georgia Department of Public Health reported a total of 97,064 confirmed cases of COVID-19 at 2:50 p.m. Monday. That's 1,584 more than was reported at the same time Sunday.

Georgia also reported 2,878 deaths from COVID-19, 18 more that reported Sunday. In addition, the state reported 11,919 hospitalizations and 2,441 admissions to intensive-care units.

No information is available from Georgia about how many patients have recovered.

As of Monday, more than 1.1 million Georgians have been tested for COVID-19, with about 15 percent the less reliable tests for antibodies. About 8.7 percent of all tests came back positive.

After four Atlanta Braves players tested positive — with Freddie Freeman hit especially hard — outfielder Nick Markakis announced Monday he would opt out of MLB’s pandemic-shortened 2020 season. Pitcher Felix Hernandez had already announced Saturday he won't play this season either.

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

• Gwinnett County: 9,787 confirmed cases
• Fulton County: 8,883 confirmed cases
• DeKalb County: 7,050 confirmed cases
• Cobb County: 5,857 confirmed cases
• Hall County: 3,419 confirmed cases

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: 316 deaths
• Cobb County: 246 deaths
• DeKalb County: 174 deaths
• Gwinnett County: 173 deaths
• Dougherty County: 155 deaths

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

Globally, more than 11.5 million people have been infected by COVID-19, and more than 535,000 people have died, Johns Hopkins University reported Monday. In the United States, more than 2.9 million people have been infected and more than 130,000 people have died from COVID-19.

The U.S. has more confirmed cases and deaths than any other country.

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