ATLANTA — The omicron variant has sent another surge of COVID-19 cases reeling through the country. Following a busy holiday season, Georgia has now been hit by the pandemic in a big way. Cases are up, hospitals are struggling and the Peach State continues to see deaths from the virus statewide.
The Georgia Department of Health released new COVID-19 statistics on Tuesday, revealing a sharp-edged truth on where the state currently stands in the pandemic. As the department missed out on reporting new information on Monday due to an inundating amount of data in need of compiling, Georgia has been in the dark since Friday.
Georgia has reached a staggeringly high total of 55,849 new COVID-19 cases since Friday. Now totaling 1,475,883 cases statewide, Georgia is currently averaging roughly 16,000 new COVID-19 cases each and every day. As experts say death totals are a lagging indicator when it comes to analyzing COVID-19 data, Georgia's inundating case totals may be a morbid portent of things to come. As of Tuesday's data, there have been 26,460 total COVID-19 related deaths reported in the Peach State.
According to 11Alive's own tracking of data from the Georgia Department of Public Health, deaths associated with COVID-19 have been trending up and down for months. As seen in the graph below, the dotted line represents the latest 14-day average number of deaths.
All of this data comes on the heels of two new COVID-19 related records in Georgia. The Peach State set a record for new COVID-19 cases on Dec. 29, as a total 19,124 cases were reported. Georgia beat its own record the next day with a new high of 24,420 cases reported in a single day.
With 3,938 Georgians currently hospitalized with the virus, COVID-19 hospitalizations currently account for roughly 23% of all patients statewide. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention claims that a state's medical resources are seriously strained whenever COVID-19 related hospitalizations account for 20% or more of total patients. And, Georgia's healthcare workers are definitely feeling the sting. Healthcare staffing levels are nearing a new low as nurses continue to combat the virus. Nearly one in four patients within the Georgia healthcare system are now infected with COVID-19.
According to 11Alive's own tracking of data, COVID hospitalizations are not at an all-time high. While the blue lines on the graph below represent total new cases of COVID-19 reported, the orange line shows how many patients are sick with COVID-19.
Speaking to 11Alive's Brittany Kleinpeter, emergency room doctor Dr. Mehrdod Ehteshami revealed that he believes local hospitals have not yet seen the worst of it.
"I think we've seen nothing yet. In about a week – we're going to see the true impact of what omicron is doing," Dr. Ehteshami said.
To help combat the ongoing surge in COVID-19 cases, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens signed off on the first executive orders of his incumbency on Tuesday. Atlanta residents older than nine are still required to wear a mask while indoors at public places, and Dickens continued the city's internal vaccination incentive program -- which offers city employees $100 for getting vaccinated against the virus.