MACON, Ga. — After weeks of rising COVID-19 case numbers, Georgia could finally be seeing a slowdown.
Cases started climbing in late June and finally topped out toward the end of August. At that point, the state averaged more than 9,200 new cases a day. The average dropped by almost a thousand a week later.
Georgia never surpassed January's surge that topped out at an average of nearly 11,000 new cases a day, but the state did almost double the peak from July 2020 of less than 4,700.
Health experts questioned whether traveling and get-togethers over the Labor Day weekend would keep cases climbing. The holiday still falls well within the two-week preliminary data window, so the state is still counting tests from that time.
Anyone who did get sick may have taken a few days to show symptoms or get tested, so it will likely take at least another week to really see the impact, if any, of the long weekend.
Bibb County also reached a tipping point in late August, averaging 187 new cases a day. Cases start to drop but then creep back up again before the preliminary window. By the last day of August, Bibb averaged slightly lower at 173 new cases, but added its highest number of cases of the entire pandemic that same day with 286 people getting sick. Even after the slight drop in new cases, Bibb's average is still above the highest point from the surge in January at 159.
Houston County shows a pretty definitive drop in cases after reaching this peak of 204 new cases a day on August 24. That same day, Houston added its second highest number of cases for the entire pandemic with 264 people getting sick. The average still dropped after that though, getting down to near 180 by the last day of August. That's finally below January's high point of 196 new cases a day.
Laurens County has the highest spread rate in Central Georgia. Laurens had what looked like it could be a similar peak in late August at 70 new cases a day. Numbers dropped slightly, but already started to climb again into the preliminary window.
Meanwhile, the state's ICU beds are 95% full, though numbers have gone down slightly since last week. The state averages 240 new hospitalizations a day, which is down from more than 300 two weeks ago. Two months ago, Georgia only averaged close to 30 new patients a day.
Georgia is seeing fewer deaths tied to the virus. The latest surge topped out at 61 new deaths a day on August 21, then dropped down to 53 by the start of the preliminary data window on August 30.