June 4: Georgia sees another big increase in COVID-19 cases, Augusta area changes little
Georgia saw nearly 1,000 new cases of COVID-19 Thursday, from a big batch of new tests, and a small amount of deaths, while Augusta area counties saw only a handful of cases.
Georgia cases of COVID-19 increased by 953 to 49,847 while deaths went up 24 to 2,147, the Department of Public Health reported. In the Augusta area, Richmond County added three cases to 609, McDuffie County had one more to 70, Screven County added one to 56, Jefferson County added a case to 47, and Jenkins County saw one more to 22. All other counties remained the same: Columbia at 266, Burke at 123, Wilkes at 34, Warren at 18, Lincoln at 16 and Glascock and Taliaferro remained at one apiece.
There were no new deaths reported in the Augusta area and the toll remained at 50.
The big jump in Georgia cases came as the state reported the results of 16,557 new tests, of which 5.75 percent were positive — a decrease from the rate in previous days. Overall, the state has 590,957 tests, of which 8.4 percent have been positive, a number that has been declining slowly in recent weeks. Georgia has tested 5.6 percent of its 10.6 million citizens.
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AU Health System saw a hefty increase of 17 new positive cases Thursday to move its total to 791 since its first cases on March 13, although only eight are currently in the hospital, spokeswoman Christen Engel said. There were also 388 more negative results to add to the cumulative total of 15,019, she said.
University Hospital had a single case to raise its cumulative total to 281, with eight patients being treated in the hospital, spokeswoman Rebecca Sylvester said. There were also 86 negative results, pushing that total to 3,145, she said.
Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center saw a big jump of 10 to 63 so far, although only 10 are active cases in veterans, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Doctors Hospital of Augusta had no new positive results so it remained at 75 so far this year, with seven of those patients being treated in the hospital and 16 awaiting test results, spokesman Peter Moberg said.
South Carolina also saw a hefty increase of 354 cases to reach 13,005 with seven new deaths at 525. That includes five new cases in Aiken County for 215 with eight deaths while Edgefield County had one new case for 53 with two deaths. The Department of Health and Environmental Control received 8,121 new results Thursday, of which 4.4 percent were positive. The state has received a total of 238,808 tests, of which 5.4 percent have been positive. The state has tested the equivalent of 4.6 percent of its 5.15 million people.
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