Grady sees its biggest jump in new virus cases

In the last seven days, Grady County saw its largest one-week increase in positive COVID-19 cases here since the pandemic’s beginning as we surged past the 200 mark, while health officials with Archbold Medical Center urged community members to maintain their vigilance.

The number of hospitalizations of COVID patients is trending upward while fewer people are wearing face masks and practicing social distancing, according to a letter to the community from Perry Mustian, current president and C.E.O. of Archbold Medical Center, which operates Cairo’s Grady General Hospital, along with community hospitals in Camilla and Quitman, and the main facility in Thomasville.

“Summer is upon us, and we all share the desire to find the right balance between appropriate COVID-19 precautions and the normal rhythms of work, shopping, vacations, etc.,” shared Mustian.

That balance is uneven in Grady County where the number of positive cases of COVID-19 jumped by 45 since last Tuesday, June 30, the largest one week increase in positive cases since late March, bringing the total number of Grady County residents with the virus to 237.

On Tuesday, Georgia crossed the 100,000 case mark bringing the number of Georgians testing positive to 100,479 as of Tuesday afternoon, according to information from the Georgia Department of Public Health.

Luckily, the death toll in Grady County has remained unchanged since mid-May.

While there were no positive patients being treated at G.G.H. as of Tuesday, Archbold Memorial Hospital had 12 patients, and Mitchell County Hospital had two.

Mustian thanks the community for following guidelines, which he says has resulted in the hospitals having fewer COVID patients now than they did in April and early May.

“This has given us a chance to catch our breath and manage the COVID patients we do have, while being able to safely care for surgical patients and others that need our services and allow some visitation, although still with restrictions,” he states.

Still, Thomas County saw an increase of 84 more cases in the last week, bringing their total to 519 residents testing positive. Mitchell County’s positive cases rose by 18 to 468. Nearby Colquitt County had 198 new positive tests since last week for a total of 1,149.

In Leon County, Florida, the increase in positive cases was 787 in the last week for a total of 1,863 cases of COVID-19 there.

Free testing is still available for Georgians by calling the public health call center at (229) 352-6567.

“The State of Georgia has made this available to all citizens, regardless of symptoms or lack of symptoms, and it is an opportunity to identify asymptomatic infected persons who need to quarantine and protect others,” Mustian states.

CORRECTION
Tests for COVID-19 will take place at the Grady County Health Department on Wednesdays and Fridays, 8 a.m. until noon throughout the month of July, not Tuesdays and Thursdays as is printed in today’s Messenger. The incorrect information was mistakenly supplied to The Messenger by district health officials, however the error was not discovered in time. In addition, the local health department will also have a weekend Specimen Point of Collection (S.P.O.C.) on Sunday, July 19, 9 a.m. until noon.

Ongoing testing is also available in Colquitt, Dougherty, Decatur, Lee, Mitchell, Terrell, Thomas and Worth counties on a changing weekly schedule.

Those who would like to be tested can choose to do so in any county, but appointments are strongly encouraged.

Meanwhile, Mustian urges residents to observe good hand hygiene, practice social distancing in public and wear masks. He states, “We enjoy the freedom to make choices, so please consider thinking of others and making this choice for your community,” Mustian says. “None of us wants to go back to where we were a few months ago, and we must work together to prevent that.”