Crime & Safety
As ICU Fills, Shelter In Place Mandated: Douglas Co. Coronavirus
Following two hours of debate, the Douglas County Board of Health unanimously approved shelter-in-place and restaurant restrictions.
DOUGLASVILLE, GA — Faced with too few coronavirus test kits and an intensive care unit filled to capacity, the Douglas County Board of Health Wednesday unanimously approved an order mandating shelter-in-place, limited gatherings and closed restaurants except for takeout and delivery. The vote followed more than two hours of debate via teleconference, with audio livestreamed to Facebook.
Drawn from pieces of similar orders from Cobb and Carroll Counties, the Douglas County order requires residents to stay at home unless absolutely necessary, restricts gatherings to 10 or fewer people, and closes restaurants except for drive-through, takeout or delivery.
“Although testing is increasing, it’s not at the place where we need,” said Dr. Janet Pak Memark, district health director of Cobb & Douglas Public Health. “If we do nothing, the cases will surge beyond our ability to take care of the patients.”
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Memark told the board via teleconference that the lone drive-through testing site in Cobb County was testing only 30 patients a day, far fewer than the number of people likely infected with the coronavirus. Test results generally are not available until at least three days after testing. At the same time, all 19 intensive-care beds at WellStar Douglas Hospital are already occupied.
Find out what's happening in Douglasvillefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
As of 5 p.m. Wednesday, 17 coronavirus infections and one related death had been reported in Douglas County. Memark said that the newest cases of the viruses appeared to be due to community spread and not from outside infection.
The final order with details will be posted by Patch.com when it becomes available.
New numbers announced Wednesday night show that 438 Georgians are hospitalized, 47 have died, and 1,387 have been infected with coronavirus, the Georgia Department of Public Health said.
There have been 4,697 tests done in a commercial lab, with 1,172 coming back positive. The DPH has done 1,482 tests, with 215 positive.
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