Deaths remain at elevated levels and newly detected cases keep rising, but the number of Georgians in the hospital with COVID-19 is dropping a little, one hopeful sign in a state where infections have been flaring since early June.
Those mixed signals are what pass for progress right now in Georgia’s fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
The number of people in Georgia hospitals fell for the fifth straight day on Sunday, to 3,079, but remain above where they were on July 19. That tentative trend could be good news for Georgia hospitals, many of whom have been hard-pressed to find critical care beds for the sickest patients with the respiratory illness.
The share of the state’s critical care beds in use also eased slightly on Sunday, as did the number of people on ventilators. Both those numbers include some patients with other illnesses.
Georgia’s total number of confirmed cases rose to nearly 168,000 Sunday, although experts warn that many more coronavirus infections go undetected. Although many people have only mild symptoms and most people recover, the illness can cause severe illness and death. Georgia’s total number of deaths crept close to 3,500 on Sunday. Only three new deaths were recorded, but weekend cases and deaths often aren’t reported until the workweek begins.
