MACON, Ga. — There are some encouraging trends in the COVID-19 data across Georgia.
13WMAZ is stepping back to see how things have changed in the last month and comparing county case counts from April 6 to May 6.
This is not an end all, be all statistic. It doesn't account for when the increases took place within that month-long time frame.
In some counties, the bulk of the growth may have happened at the beginning of the month and then slowed. In others, it could have happened recently.
Growth percentages can also skew large if the total sample size is small. For instance, if a county theoretically grew from one case to 10 cases over the course of the month, that's a 900 percent increase.
But only nine actual new cases were added. Whereas if a county with 100 cases grew to 200 cases, that's a lot more actual cases, but only a 100 percent increase.
For those reasons, the best bet is probably still to keep an eye on the trend of daily confirmed new cases as a barometer of the state's progress.
But, county case count growth over the last month is still useful information.
The data from the Georgia Department of Public Health provides context and spotlights how each county has experienced the virus differently.
Some, like Peach, have seen their total confirmed case count increase at about the same pace as the state.
From April 6 to May 6, Georgia's total case count grew about 300 percent from about 7,000 confirmed cases to roughly 30,000.
Peach County grew at roughly the same rate, going from 15 cases to around 60.
But others, like Hancock and Baldwin counties, saw their case counts grow much faster than the state's.
"Everyday we become increasingly alarmed every time we see the numbers go up," Baldwin County Commission Chairman Henry Craig said.
Baldwin County's confirmed case count grew more than 1,600 percent, from just 15 cases on April 6th to more than 260.
Craig says hotpots at the old Central State Hospital campus are a big factor.
People choosing not to wear masks and social distance, he says, also hurt.
Craig estimates that only half the county is following those guidelines.
"Fifty, fifty," he said. "That's sad."
He urged people to take the virus more seriously.
"I don't know how to fix it and I think every community leader is frustrated like I am," he said. "But somehow we need to get the word to the people to understand that this is a deadly disease and it's passed person to person and until that person to person contact is changed, this disease is not going to go away."
Hancock County saw a big increase too, from zero cases a month ago to 110 on Wednesday.
"We're steady rising here," EMA Director and Assistant Fire Chief Mario Chapple said. "From the trend I see now we are steady going up."
Chapple says people there have done a good job following the guidelines.
"With me being around town, I see a lot of people masked up and kind of social distancing," he said.
But, like Craig, he still reiterated its importance.
"I plead that please follow the guidelines," he said.
And he says the prison there has not become a hotspot.
Instead, Chapple believes an increase in available testing has led to the jump in confirmed cases.
"I think where a lot of people weren't tested, now they're going to the drive through getting tested and the number has increased," he said.
Michael Hokanson with the North Central Health District agreed, saying increased testing availability contributed to the rise in Hancock County.
Hokanson also said outbreaks in places where people live and work in close proximity, like some of those hot spots at the Central State Hospital campus in Baldwin County, make up a big chunk of Central Georgia's confirmed cases.
Here's the data, April 6 to May 6, for all Central Georgia Counties:
RELATED: Is Georgia's curve flattening?
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