GA Records Almost 3,500 New COVID-19 Cases, Sets Another Record

ATLANTA — As Georgia heads into the July 4 weekend, the state reported Thursday nearly 3,500 new cases of COVID-19, setting another one-day record.

The percentage of positive tests is also creeping up: from 8.4 to 8.5 percent in one day. The rate of tests that show positive for the coronavirus had been hovering near 8 percent as recently as last week. Since then, it’s been slowly rising.

At 2:50 p.m. Thursday, the Georgia Department of Public Health reported a total of 87,709 confirmed cases of COVID-19. That’s 3,472 more than was reported at the same time Wednesday.

Georgia also reported 2,849 deaths from COVID-19, 22 more that reported Wednesday. In addition, the state reported 11,500 hospitalizations — 225 more than the previous day — and 2,389 admissions to intensive-care units.

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

On Thursday, Gov. Brian Kemp — along with U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams — continued his statewide tour to encourage wearing a mask to slow the spread of the coronavirus.

“We must be vigilant,” Kemp said Thursday in Augusta, “because the uptick is a clear reminder that we are not out of the woods yet. We cannot become complacent or weary.”

More than 1 million Georgians as of Thursday have been tested for COVID-19, with about 15 percent the less reliable tests for antibodies. About 8.4 percent of all tests came back positive.

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

• Gwinnett County: 8,619 confirmed cases
• Fulton County: 7,527 confirmed cases
• DeKalb County: 6,172 confirmed cases
• Cobb County: 5,301 confirmed cases
• Hall County: 3,310 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: 314 deaths
• Cobb County: 245 deaths
• DeKalb County: 173 deaths
• Gwinnett County: 173 deaths
• Dougherty County: 155 deaths

As of Thursday, all 159 Georgia counties had reported at least two confirmed cases of COVID-19. Only 18 counties have yet to report a death.

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

Globally, more than 10.7 million people have been infected by COVID-19, and more than 517,000 people have died, Johns Hopkins University reported Thursday. In the United States, more than 2.7 million people have been infected and more than 128,000 people have died from COVID-19. The U.S. has more confirmed cases and deaths than any other country.

Masks help #slowthespread of COVID-19. Masks/face coverings act as simple barriers to help prevent respiratory droplets from traveling in the air and onto other people when the person wearing the mask coughs, sneezes, talks, or raises their voice. https://t.co/UDZjEzgL6j pic.twitter.com/HMEqtrWxk4
— GaDeptPublicHealth (@GaDPH) June 30, 2020