Cobb COVID deaths top 400; nearly 20 percent in East Cobb

Although the rate of positive COVID-19 cases in Cobb County has been falling since its mid-July peak, the county crossed an unwelcome threshold on Friday, with more than 400 reported deaths due to the virus.

The Georgia Department of Public Health on Friday reported that 401 people have died in Cobb, the second-highest county total in the state, following Fulton County, which has 535 deaths.

Cobb County also has 17,476 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 104 more reported on Friday.

Those figures are according to the date of report and not the date of “onset,” or the date which an individual learns of a positive test for the virus.

That latter distinction is of importance regarding the reopening of the Cobb County School District. Superintendent Chris Ragsdale announced Thursday that the phased return to classroom instruction will start on Oct. 5, given the dropping average of cases per 100,000 people.

At one point that 14-day average was nearly 400 cases per 100,000 (100 cases per 100,000 is considered high community spread). Now, according to Georgia DPH, Cobb’s average of cases per 100,000 over the last two weeks is 219.

The number of cases and deaths in East Cobb is about one-fifth of the county total, according to the latest figures from Cobb and Douglas Public Health.

According to the ZIP Code map seen at the top (click here to view more information), 78 deaths have been reported in East Cobb, which has 3,866 positive COVID-19 cases.

That comes to 19.4 percent of the deaths and 22 percent of the cases in Cobb County.

It’s been a couple months since we last broke this down, in early July, when the case peak began.

On July 3, there were 1,034 cases and 41 deaths in East Cobb. Here’s how those numbers look today, with the July figures in parenthesis:

• 30062: 1,143 cases, 21 deaths (297, 12)
• 30066: 1,007 cases, 18 deaths (241, 9)
• 30067: 1,043 cases, 11 deaths (317, 8)
• 30068: 590 cases, 28 deaths (155, 16)
• 30075: 83 cases, 0 deaths (24, 0)

According to the latest figures from the Georgia Department of Community Health, 29 of those 78 deaths have taken place in long-term care homes.

In August we reported that for the most part, case and death numbers in those facilities have held relatively steady since the COVID-19 outbreak began in March. An exception is the Manor Care Rehab Center on Johnson Ferry Place, which in June and July reported three deaths and more than 30 staff cases.

As of this week, three more deaths have been reported at Manor Care, and a total of 38 employees have tested positive.

Hospitalization numbers that concerned public health officials also have gone down in recent weeks.

Cobb is in Region N with Douglas, Paulding and Cherokee counties, as shown above in the latest situation report by the Georgia Emergency Management Agency.

GEMA is no longer updating that information, but Georgia DPH instead is moving some of that data into its expanded public Georgia COVID-19 status dashboard.

As of Friday, a total of 5,931 people in Georgia have died from COVID-19, and 279,354 have tested positive.

Cobb County Government also has its own COVID hub with data, maps and other details of deaths, cases, hospitalization and demographic information relating to the virus.

Related Content

• Cobb schools provide more safety information for reopening
• Cobb schools classroom return begins Oct. 5; masks required
• Kemp extends public health emergency, safety measures
• Cobb one-year-old is youngest COVID victim in Georgia
• Cobb continues “nice mask ask” in lieu of mandate
• East Cobb long-term care homes holding steady on COVID cases
• 60 percent of all East Cobb COVID cases reported in July
• The East Cobb Open for Business Directory
• East Cobb News COVID-19 Resource Page

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