CORONAVIRUS

July 29: COVID-19 deaths rise in Georgia as cases mount in Augusta

Tom Corwin
tcorwin@augustachronicle.com
Augusta Chronicle

Georgia saw a smaller number of new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday but a sharp rise in deaths while Augusta saw more than 120 new cases.

Georgia added 3,373 new cases to reach 178,323 and a near-record 79 deaths for a toll of 3,642, the Department of Public Health reported. Richmond County saw 127 new cases for 3,200.

Columbia County added 74 for 1,689, Jefferson County had five more for 394, Burke County saw two more for 372, McDuffie added 10 for 261, Jenkins County had four more for 217, Wilkes County added a single case for 168, Screven saw four more for 161, and Lincoln County added three for 115. Warren and Taliaferro remained the same at 46 and seven respedtively while Glascock County subtracted one for 19.

Richmond County suffered two more deaths for 77, Columbia County had a new death for 19 and Lincoln County saw a new death for four, making the toll for the area 152.

Georgia Public Health got the results of 25,954 tests, of which just under 13% were positive, slightly above Tuesday and above the overall percentage of 10.23%, according to analysis by the Augusta Chronicle.

AU Health System saw another large batch of new cases with 129 to now have 3,894 since its first cases in March, with 73 patients in the hospital, spokeswoman Christen Engel said.

Doctors Hospital of Augusta saw two more cases for 192 with 32 patients being treated in the hospital, spokesman Kaden Jacobs said.

University Hospital had 21 new cases to reach 1,083 total and, after a brief drop, was back up to 85 patients being treated in the hospital, spokeswoman Rebecca Sylvester said.

Aiken Regional Medical Centers saw 14 new cases for 455 total, with 28 in the hospital, spokeswoman Ashlee Brewer said.

Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center added 14 new cases for 270, with 80 active cases among 74 veterans, five staff and one unspecified, and suffered a new death for 16, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

South Carolina had 1,703 new cases to reach 85,423 with 46 new deaths for a toll of 1,551. Aiken County had 36 new cases for 1,346 and a new death for 20 while Edgefield County had 17 new cases for 252 with five deaths.

The state received the results of 10,889 new tests, of which 15.64 percent were positive, four points higher than the overall average of 11.64 percent, according to analysis.

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