MACON, Ga. — Georgia's COVID-19 cases continue to drop for another week, but numbers are still higher than what the state saw over the summer months.
Right before the preliminary window, Georgia averaged 2,700 new cases a day. That's a big improvement from a month before when the state reached more than 9,700 at the peak in August, but before this latest surge, Georgia had gotten down to near 250 new cases a day.
This time last year, Georgia started to see cases rise again and that surge continued through the holidays. As of right now, there is still a pretty steep drop in cases into the preliminary window, which typically signals that there shouldn't be any drastic changes over the next week or so.
In Bibb County, cases fell from 191 in late August down to 33 right before the preliminary window. That is still 11x higher than levels Bibb saw in late June.
Houston County follows a similar pattern. Average cases dropped from 212 at the peak in August down to 46 by late September. Numbers are still significantly higher than in June when Houston got down to two new cases a day.
Laurens County continues to have the highest spread rate in Central Georgia, but cases continue to drop there as well.
Georgia is also seeing far fewer deaths from COVID-19. Right before the preliminary window, about 47 Georgians died a day. That is down significantly from the peak in early September at 107 deaths a day, but before this surge, Georgia only averaged five deaths a day.
After weeks of ups and downs, the state is finally seeing a clear downward trend in hospitalizations. Right now, Georgia averages 207 new patients a day, which is down from close to 300 just two weeks before. The average has not dipped below 200 since mid-August.