MACON, Ga. — Health experts warned of a spike in COVID-19 cases following the Christmas and New Year holidays. It's still early to get an exact measure, but Georgia's latest case counts already show the state has reached a new record-peak.
Three days after Christmas, more people got COVID-19 than any other day in the pandemic with 7,752 new cases. That falls within the state's two-week preliminary data window, so more cases could be added to that total as the state receives more test results from that time.
Even outside the preliminary window, new coronavirus cases in Georgia now surpass levels from July after three months of increasing numbers. Right outside the preliminary window, Georgia averaged 4,858 new cases a day. That is 400 cases more than the peak average in July.
Houston County also recorded its highest daily case count with 132 new cases on December 28th. That's more than double the previous record of 60 new cases July 6th. Right inside the preliminary data window, Houston averaged about 74 new cases a day.
That is on par with Bibb County's average at the end of December. Bibb also reported a significant jump in new cases a few days after Christmas, but did not surpass numbers from July. However, these numbers are still likely to increase since they fall in the preliminary data window.
Many central Georgia counties show similar trends, but Hancock and Twiggs counties report the highest spread rates in our area in the last two weeks at 1,245 cases per 100,000 people in Hancock and 952 per 100,000 in Twiggs.
Those are nearly 10 to 12 times higher than the benchmark for substantial spread at 100 per 100,000.
Meanwhile, Georgia hospitals add more and more patients by the day as numbers near the peak average of 300 new hospitalizations a day in late July. Right now, more than 240 people are admitted to the hospital a day on average.
