The death count in Cobb County from the Coronavirus has risen by six in the last two days, to 23 as of Saturday evening.
The Georgia Department of Public Health daily status report at 7 p.m. indicated a total of 6,383 cases of COVID-19 and 208 deaths across the state.
That’s a death rate of nearly three percent, and the 1,266 hospitalizations represent a rate of nearly 20 percent of those who contract the virus.
Cobb’s 23 deaths are the third-highest in Georgia, behind Dougherty County’s 30 deaths and 26 in Fulton County. A total of 453 positive cases have been confirmed in Cobb.
Fulton now has 959 confirmed cases, Dougherty 685 and DeKalb County 539.
A total of 26,294 people have been tested in Georgia, although public health officials statewide and in Cobb have said that the availability of testing kits remains limited.
In Cobb County, the average age of those who’ve died from the virus is 69.4 years old. The two youngest victims were a 33-year-old male and a 36-year-old female with underlying medical conditions.
The oldest victim was an 87-year-old man, also with other health issues. Thirteen of the 23 Cobb victims were age 70 or older.
The Georgia DPH does not further break down below the county level where the victims lived. Earlier this week Cobb and Douglas Public Health Director Dr. Janet Memark showed a heat map that she said is not exact, but the cases appear to be spread out fairly evenly through the county.
Among the positive cases is a resident at the Sterling Estates senior community in East Cobb, which has been placed on lockdown.
Like many more cities, counties and locales across the country, Memark said the spike in the number of cases and deaths reflects widespread community transmission.
A Georgia shelter-in-place ordered by Gov. Brian Kemp went into effect at 6 p.m. Friday and continues through April 13.
A Cobb declaration of emergency issued last week through April 15 is being extended through April 25.
At a briefing Tuesday before the Cobb Board of Commissioners, Memark said the number of of people being tested daily at a drive-through facility at Jim Miller Park is only around 50. High-risk individuals, who are medical workers, first responders and those with a referral from a doctor, are the only ones able to get tested this way.
She said that there were 37 ventilators available and was concerned about a very high number of those in senior-living and long-term care facilities in Cobb, totalling 5,950 beds.
As more people get tested, she said the number of cases and deaths will continue to rise, but “my hope is we’re at or near the peak.”
Memark and deputy director Lisa Crossman strongly stressed shelter-in-place and social distancing tactics to reduce the spread of the virus, given those factors, and urged that public parks remain closed.
Cobb parks had been closed before the emergency declaration, and public pools also will not be opening anytime soon, with the spring almost here.
Among the businesses ordered to close in the amended emergency declaration are private gyms and fitness salons, due to the close proximity of patrons.
Lisa Crossman, Memark’s deputy director, said “taking baby steps does seem to prolong the pain” of having to proceed with restrictive measures.
Commissioner Lisa Cupid thought that allowing non-essential businesses to remain open while ordering a shelter-in-place was sending a mixed message to the public.
She and Commissioner JoAnn Birrell also were curious about how the county was going to force the mandates.
Commission Chairman Mike Boyce said “it’s bad public policy to arrest people.
“We’re in a whole new area,” he said. “We have to be sympathetic to people” who are having to hunker down in their homes, and practice social distancing when they’re out in public.
“A vast number of people in this county are complying with the emergency order,” Boyce said.
The few who do not, he added, “will get their just desserts,” in terms of possibly being exposed to the virus, among other things.
Related Content
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
