ATLANTA — Georgia health experts are closely monitoring an uptick in COVID-19 cases in the Peach State. It's the first significant increase they've seen in 2023, although the numbers remain relatively small.
"It is increasing. That is of concern, but it is still nowhere near what we've seen at the height of hospitalizations," said Jodie Guest, senior vice chair and professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the Emory University Rollins School of Public Health. "We want to be really clear that they're still at almost an all time low from the beginning of the pandemic to now."
Data from the Centers for Disease Control shows a 44% increase in patients admitted with COVID-19 to Georgia hospitals in the last two reporting weeks, which ended on July 29.
Guest said they've also noticed an uptick in COVID-19 from wastewater testing.
"We already knew that people were mostly using at home antigen tests. We know those are very unreliable numbers at this point," she said.
While the new EG.5 variant is becoming increasingly common, Guest said it's likely not driving the uptick in cases.
"We have a lot of information to believe that our new vaccines that are coming out in the fall will still work very well against this new variant," she said. "This one does appear to be a bit different, but not remarkably so."
She said an increase in people getting sick usually coincides with the start of school year.
Guest also added taking extra precautions around people with immunological problems is key to preventing severe illness.
"If you're a person who has any sort of immunological problems and if you're a person who is going to be visiting someone who's older, we really just suggest that you take a lot of precautions in order to protect them as well as yourself."