Bulloch County recorded its most COVID-19 cases in a single day in four months, and the coronavirus claimed its 37th and 38th local victims – the first deaths since Dec. 22.
Public Safety/Emergency Management Agency Director Ted Wynn said Bulloch recorded 41 new cases on Wednesday, the most since 47 were reported on Sept. 9. Also, Wynn said an 84-year-old man with comorbidities and a 54-year-old woman with no comorbidities died in the past two days.
Bulloch has now recorded 3,920 total COVID cases, which have resulted in 38 deaths and 169 local residents being hospitalized since the pandemic began in March.
Also, the state Department of Health is reporting an additional 23 deaths in Bulloch probably were caused by COVID. According to the Georgia DPH, the 23 non-confirmed deaths represent Bulloch citizens who received a positive antigen/rapid test for COVID-19, developed COVID-19 symptoms and subsequently died.
Wynn said East Georgia Regional Medical Center staff on Thursday were caring for 29 COVID patients, with eight patients on ventilators. The hospital has had at least 21 COVID patients in its care since Dec. 21, reaching a peak of 31 patients on both this past Tuesday and Wednesday.
COVID cases that require hospitalization continue to increase in Georgia, setting another single-day high on Thursday with 5,782 state residents currently hospitalized with coronavirus – an increase of 140 patients in one day. Georgia has seen hospitalizations increase almost every day since Nov. 15. In fact, since that day, daily hospitalizations have risen from 1,978 to 5,782 — a 192-percent increase in seven and a half weeks.
Across the United States, cases that require hospitalization hit another peak on Wednesday with 132,474 Americans in the hospital with COVID on that day. National hospitalizations have increased 178% from 47,615 on Nov. 1 to 132,474 on Wednesday, according to the COVID Tracking Project.
State, national case numbers
With 70 deaths on Wednesday, Georgia moved past 10,000 confirmed fatalities due to COVID and the 65 deaths reported Thursday bring the states’ death toll to 10,100. Georgia recorded 7,105 new cases Thursday, and the state's total number of confirmed cases is now up to 609,868.
According to statistics from the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine, as of Thursday afternoon, 362,983 Americans had died from coronavirus. Also, Johns Hopkins reported the U.S. has had 21,416,016 confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic.
Bulloch Schools
The Bulloch County Schools system reported 24 new cases this week for a total of 276 COVID cases since classes started on Aug. 17. Schools resumed classes from winter break on Wednesday and the 24 new cases is the most reported in a single week for the school year, so far.
Local colleges
Georgia Southern recorded 20 new cases for the week of Dec. 27–Jan. 3. Seventeen of the new cases were on the Statesboro campus. Georgia Southern will report again on Monday, Jan. 11.
East Georgia State College reported five new cases on its Swainsboro campus since Sunday. The college has had a total of 110 cases across its three campuses since Aug. 17.
Ogeechee Technical College reported no new cases for the week of Dec. 28–Jan. 3. The college has not had a positive case at its Bulloch County campus since the week of Oct. 19–25 and has had a total of 39 cases across its campuses since Aug. 17.
Testing sites
The Bulloch County Health Department, 1 W. Altman St. in Statesboro, continues to serve as a COVID-19 testing site, or specimen point of collection. It operates 8 a.m. till 11 a.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday. To schedule a free test, call (855) 473-4374 or visit www.sehdph.org/covid-19, where a test can be scheduled online.
Additional free COVID-19 testing continues Thursdays from 9 a.m. to noon at Luetta Moore Park, 121 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.