As the rate of COVID-19 cases rises around the country, thanks largely to what’s being called the Delta variant, the director of Cobb and Douglas Public Health said this week that citizens should take precautions.
Those including wearing masks when going out in public, including schools, and getting vaccinated if they haven’t already done so.
After dropping to pre-pandemic levels in June, the case rates have climbed back into what’s called the “high community spread” range, or a 14-day average of more than 100 cases per 100,000 people.
As of Friday, Cobb’s combined PCR and Antigen testing results showed that average to be 267 cases per 100,000.
You can check the Georgia Department of Public Health’s COVID-19 Daily Status Report for more details.
On Thursday, Dr. Janet Memark, director of Cobb and Douglas Public Health, sent out a message urging people in high transmission areas “to mask up while going out in public spaces.”
Those areas include Cobb and Douglas counties. At one point earlier this summer, Cobb’s test positivity rate was under two percent, with five percent being a threshold for concern. Now that figure is 8.4 percent.
She estimates that 80 percent of the virus that’s spreading around now is the Delta variant, which transmits at a faster rate than the main COVID-19 and is considered more contagious.
“It’s more deadly for people who are unvaccinated,” Memark said. “If you keep letting the virus circulate, to reproduce, it is going to find a way to beat us.”
She said Delta has made “some progress” against the vaccine, meaning that some fully vaccinated people can still get a positive test and have mild symptoms.
“But your chances of dying or being hospitalized are extremely rare, if you are vaccinated,” Memark said in a video produced by Cobb County government (you can watch it all below).
Of those “breakthrough” cases, Memark said it’s not true that the vaccines don’t work. Instead, they are reducing severe illness and symptoms.
Memark also said that COVID-19 hospitalizations in Cobb are up 300 percent from a few weeks ago, and many of them are younger patients, in their 30s-50s, who are not vaccinated.
Memark’s message comes as the Cobb County School District begins a new academic year on Monday. Earlier this week, the district reiterated it would follow a masks-optional policy for students, teachers and staff.
The district had a mask mandate for the 2020-21 school year but announced plans in May to drop that requirement. Cobb schools were sued by parents for the mandate, and that legal action was later dropped.
Gwinnett schools switched to a mask mandate this week following guidance from the Centers for Disease Control recommending mask-wearing at schools. In her messages this week, Memark urged parents to follow the new recommendations, which she admitted have been confusing.
“These recommendations were meant to try to keep as many children in school as possible to allow them to keep learning,” said Memark in a CDPH newsletter this week. “Because so many children have not or cannot get vaccinated, masking is one of the only prevention tools we have to decrease spread.”
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said last week he would not order new restrictions, including a mask mandate, something he has been unwilling to do during the pandemic.
Some cities in Georgia have reimposed previous mask mandates, including the city of Atlanta. Cobb County has never done that, except in government facilities, with former chairman Mike Boyce saying last July it would impose an unfair enforcement burden on public safety personnel.
When East Cobb News asked if Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid may be considering a mask mandate, county spokesman Ross Cavitt said Thursday “not at this time.”
Cobb and Douglas Public Health is offering free Pfizer vaccines to the public (ages 12 and older) at its various centers and at selected other pop-up locations, either by appointment or via walk-up. For more information, click here.
“Please safely enjoy the last weekend before school starts,” Memark said. “Remember that we are not done with this pandemic yet. It is not too late to get your vaccine.”
Related content
- Checking Cobb’s vaccination rates by census tracts
- A concluding look at Cobb’s COVID-19 data
- Georgia COVID state of emergency expires July 1
- Cobb issues COVID scam alert for federal relief funds
- Cobb COVID cases continue fall below “high community spread”
- Cobb COVID update: “We’re on the right track”
- Health director: 21 percent of Cobb citizens vaccinated
- Cobb COVID-19 deaths near 1,000; 200+ in East Cobb
- Cobb COVID vaccine call center launches
- East Cobb News COVID information and resource page
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