Cobb COVID cases continue fall below 'high community spread'

Cobb COVID community spread — *Source: Cobb GIS. For more Cobb COVID graphics and data, **click here**.*

In recent weeks the community spread of COVID-19 in Cobb County has dropped well below a key barometer.

What public health officials call “high community spread” is a 14-day average of 100 confirmed cases per 100,000 people.

Cobb figures haven’t been below that threshold since late last summer, but as case rates plummet that line was crossed in mid-May (as indicated in dotted yellow line above). The Cobb GIS office compiled that data, and you can see more by clicking here.

At the end of last month, that number was 52. As of Friday, the 14-day average in Cobb was 39, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health, which posts a daily status report.

Similar trends are taking place across Georgia and the United States, as mask mandates and other restrictions are being lifted.

The drop in case rates from the start of the year was just as precipitous as its climb at the start of winter. The 14-day high of 980 was on Jan. 3, right as vaccines were being rolled out.

By the start of February, the 14-day average had dropped nearly in half, and by a similar rate by the end of the month, when that metric was 264.

Earlier this week, the Cobb County School District announced that masks will be optional for students and staff for summer school and the 2021-22 school year.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020, there have been more than 61,000 confirmed cases in Cobb County, and 994 confirmed deaths, according to Cobb and Douglas Public Health.

In Georgia, there have been 897,240 cases during that time, and 18,144 deaths. Cobb’s death total is the third-highest in the state, behind Fulton (1,324) and Gwinnett (1,108).

The Cobb GIS update includes COVID-related hospitalization figures that also have fallen dramatically in recent months, from 1,139 in December to under 200 each in the months of March, April and May.

Vaccination rates in Cobb and Georgia continue to lag other states, but have been climbing steadily.

According to the Georgia DPH vaccination dashboard, 37 percent of Cobb citizens (275,884) are “fully vaccinated,” or have been given both doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines or the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Another 326,617 Cobb residents have received the first dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, representing 43 percent of the county population.

Across the state 41 percent of Georgians have received at least one dose and 34 percent are considered fully vaccinated.

Dr. Janet Memark, director of Cobb and Douglas Public Health, is scheduled to provide her latest COVID-19 briefing to the Cobb Board of Commissioners on Tuesday.