MACON, Ga. — Georgia's average daily COVID-19 count dropped quickly after the last peak in January, but March was a slow month of improvement in the state.
At the height of the pandemic in January, Georgia averaged more than 10,700 new cases a day. Right before the preliminary data window, the state averaged about one-tenth of that at 1,139 new cases a day.
However, there is still plenty of room for improvement. At the end of March last year, before Georgia reached its initial peak, the state averaged around 520 new cases.
Improvements in the case curve appear to slow down in the last few months. In the month of March, Georgia's daily average dropped by just over 600 cases. Cases dropped five times as fast in February, falling by more than 3,000 cases.
Georgia is not seeing that same dramatic slowdown for COVID-19-related deaths, though.
Before the preliminary window, an average of 11 Georgians died a day, which is a big improvement from the more than 120 deaths a day reported in January. The state's daily death toll has not reached numbers this low since last March at the very start of the pandemic.
Within the last week, Georgia hospitals saw a small uptick in new patients.
Right now, an average of 97 new patients get admitted each day. That is up from 76 a week ago. However, Georgia has managed to stay below the 100 mark since early March.
In central Georgia, the uptick in cases reported in Bibb and Houston last week started to drop again.
Bibb County now averages about 10 new cases a day, dropping below the low point in September at 12 new cases.
Houston County averaged 12 new cases before the preliminary window, which is still just above the low point at the start of October at 10 cases.