MACON, Ga. — Central Georgia hospitals are taking precautions as COVID-19 numbers are starting to rise again in our area.
"Right now, the whole entire health system across the country is stressed," Scott Strong with Piedmont Medical said.
Coronavirus cases continue to strain the U.S health-care system, but is that the case for Central Georgia right now?
Dr. Sandy Duke with Atrium Health Navicent says not yet.
"The good news is that across this region, we're in a pretty good place right now, so our numbers are remaining relatively low," Duke said.
Hospitalizations are also low.
Duke says as of Tuesday, Atrium Health Navicent has 21 COVID-19 patients across all their campuses.
Strong says they have 11 COVID-19 patients.
Both Duke and Strong say although the numbers are low now, they expect them to rise soon.
"If we look across the state of Georgia and the southeast, all leading indicators, unfortunately, are that we are headed towards another surge," Duke said.
"Locally, we're starting to see small increases similar to surges of the past where there's some early spikes in both testing and positivity," Strong said.
Duke says right now, the Delta variant continues to drive that surge, but CDC models show we will see the Omicron variant a lot this winter.
Both hospitals are already taking precautions, to stay on the safe side.
"We're messaging about vaccines, COVID-safe behaviors, social distancing through the holiday season, we're looking at our monoclonal infusion center. We offer monoclonal antibodies, which have been shown to decrease the need for hospitalizations and bad outcomes," Duke said.
"I think we are also working to remind people that the three W's actually do work -- wearing a mask, washing your hands, and watching your distance is very significant in limiting the spread," Strong said.
Duke also says they're looking at staffing to make sure they're prepared for the increase in cases.
Strong says he hopes that the spike isn't too bad, but cases are estimated to go up in mid-January and early February.