As GA Mask Battle Continues, Nearly 4K More COVID Cases Reported

ATLANTA, GA — As numbers soared nationwide and testing struggled to keep up, Georgia reported nearly 4,000 new cases of COVID-19 Friday for a third day in row.

The health department’s tally of 3,908 new cases on Friday marked the ninth day so far in July that one-day increases in cases have topped 3,000. It’s also the second most new COVID-19 cases in a day reported in Georgia since the pandemic started.

Georgia’s health department also reported 28 more deaths Friday, 13 more than reported the day before.

According to The New York Times, the United States posted more than 75,600 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases Thursday, setting a single-day record for the 11th time since the pandemic started.

Friday’s near-record numbers in Georgia were reported the same day that Gov. Brian Kemp and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms accused each other of playing politics with the pandemic.

The sniping followed Kemp's lawsuit Thursday seeking to ban Atlanta from mandating masks. Kemp, a Republican and supporter of President Donald Trump, voided local orders mandating masks earlier on Thursday. Lance Bottoms, a possible vice presidential pick for presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden, responded by announcing that Atlanta would enforce its ban anyway. Kemp’s office sued Atlanta hours later.

Meanwhile, in Gwinnett County, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Friday that tests take up to three days to schedule, and time slots fill up fast. Gwinnett's problems are similar to those experienced nationwide, according to a representative of LabCorp, which processes many of the tests. Gwinnett County has more confirmed cases of COVID-19 than any other county in Georgia.

THE NUMBERS

The Georgia Department of Public Health reported a total of 135,183 confirmed cases of COVID-19 at 2:50 p.m. Friday. That's 3,908 more than was reported at the same time Wednesday. Georgia’s record for most new COVID-19 cases in a day is 4,484, set on July 10.

Georgia also reported 3,132 deaths so far from COVID-19, 28 more that reported Thursday. In addition, the state reported 14,647 hospitalizations — 301 more than the day before — and 2,781 admissions to intensive-care units.

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

Counties in or near metro Atlanta continue to have the highest number of positives. Gwinnett County is still in the lead, but Fulton County joined it in posting 12,000-plus cases by adding more than 400 positive tests on Thursday.

• Gwinnett County: 12,897 cases — 408 new
• Fulton County: 12,584 cases — 400 new
• DeKalb County: 9,308 cases — 143 new
• Cobb County: 7,972 cases — 259 new
• Hall County: 4,242 cases — 112 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, which since then has largely stabilized.

• Fulton County: 335 deaths
• Cobb County: 260 deaths
• Gwinnett County: 195 deaths
• DeKalb County: 187 deaths
• Dougherty County: 157 deaths

As of Friday, nearly 1.4 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, 10.3 percent of tests came back positive. For the less reliable test for antibodies, 5.3 percent came back positive. The overall positive rate was about 9.6 percent.

As more Georgians were tested over the last few weeks, positive percentages for both the virus test and tests overall have inched upward. On July 6, the percentage of tests overall that came back positive was only 8.7 percent.

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

Globally, more than 13.9 million people have been infected by COVID-19, and more than 593,000 people have died, Johns Hopkins University reported Friday.

In the United States, more than 3.6 million people have been infected and nearly 139,000 people have died from COVID-19 as of Friday. The U.S. has only about 4 percent of the world's population but more confirmed cases and deaths than any other country.

OTHER NEWS:

• Civil Rights Leader Rev. C.T. Vivian Dead At 95
• White House Document Shows Georgia In Coronavirus 'Red Zone'
• Substitute Teachers Could Be Scarce If Coronavirus Spreads In Classrooms
• Kemp, Mayor Disagree If Mask Mandate Is Politics, Saves GA Lives
• Douglas County To Start 2020 School Year With Online Only