-
Virus
Hart County’s two-week rate of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 appears to be dropping as Georgia shed the distinction of being the state where the virus was spreading fastest, according to reports.
There were 38 new cases added to the cumulative total in the past week, as of Tuesday, Aug. 25, bringing Hart County’s overall case load since tracking began in March to 390, according to the state Department of Public Health. As of Thursday morning the two-week rate of infection per 100,000 people was 249, a drop of 46 from the rate reported on Aug. 18.
Hart County administrator Terrell Partain said there were 18 cases active in Hart County as of Wednesday morning.
Two more deaths were reported in the past week, bringing the cumulative total of deaths locally attributed to the disease to 10 as of Thursday’s report.
Hartwell Health and Rehabilitation, the first of three local nursing homes to report confirmed virus cases in May, reported its first death, as more confirmed infections were also added to the reports compiled by the Department of Community Health.
The DCH is now reporting 25 of 71 residents at Hartwell Health have contracted the virus. One has died and 10 have recovered. There have been 17 staff members to test positive.
At other local nursing homes, 51 residents at Hart Care Center have tested positive, five have died and 33 have recovered as of Thursday morning. Twenty-three staff members have tested positive.
Brookdale Assisted Living has also experienced five deaths out of the 12 residents who have tested positive since testing began. Two residents have recovered and one staff member has tested positive.
The Associated Press reported this week that Mississippi is now the state with the highest rate of infection per 100,000 population over a two-week period. Georgia’s rate as of Sunday, Aug. 23, was 355 per 100,000 in population.
The state DPH also warned this week against drinking diluted chlorine dioxide as way to fight coronavirus, an industrial bleach-like agent the DPH says has been marketed falsely as a way to cure various diseases. Consuming the concoction could lead to severe illness or death and severe damage to internal organs.