MACON, Ga. — Now two weeks past Labor Day weekend, state data gives a better picture of what impact the holiday may have on Georgia's COVID-19 case curve. Many health officials feared the weekend would lead to a rise in cases.
The curve's downward trend continues, but the slope of the moving average line is much less steep right around the Labor Day holiday compared to the weeks before.
The holiday weekend sits right outside the state's preliminary data window now but is still likely to see some changes in the coming days as the Department of Public Health gets more test results in and counted.
Just before the preliminary data window, the state averaged close to 1,450 cases, which is down to a third of the average at the highest point in July.
In some new data released by the Department of Public Health, people ages 18 to 29 now make up a quarter of all cases in the state. At the start of the pandemic, older populations saw the highest numbers. The 18-29 age range saw an increase in cases leading into the start of September while other age ranges saw decreases in that time.
There is a recent increase in COVID-19-related hospitalizations in Georgia, breaking the steady decrease since the end of July. However, even after the increase, Georgia hospitals are averaging half as many new COVID-19 patients a day compared the peak in July.
Deaths tied to COVID-19 are still on the decline, which is a trend that started around the beginning of August. There is a small change in the otherwise smooth decline right inside the preliminary data window.
Deaths tend to lag behind other indicators because people can spend days to weeks or even longer receiving treatment first, and it can take the state a while to receive death certificates and reports from hospitals or coroners.