Four more succumb to COVID-19 here, testing moves to Barber Park
The number of new cases of COVID-19 affecting Grady County residents is continuing to drop for the second week, however the number of local people dying from the disease has remained steady. Four Grady countians died from the disease in the last seven days, compared to three the previous week and four the week before that, bringing our total number of deaths from COVID-19 to 39, according to public health information.
The Grady County Health Department will continue to offer free testing for COVID-19 beginning next week on Feb. 5, but the testing site has moved from the health department to Barber Park located at 250 Long Branch Church Rd. in Cairo.
The new site was selected to better accommodate the number of residents requesting testing, says Dr. Charles Ruis, district health director.
During the month of February, testing will take place on Fridays, 9 a.m. until noon.
As demand for testing remains high, Dr. Ruis reminds residents that appointments are strongly encouraged to help curb wait times. Appointments can be scheduled by logging on to covid19.dph.ga.gov or calling the appointment hotline Monday through Friday at (229) 352-6567.
People don’t have to be a resident of Grady County to be tested at the Cairo site.
In the last week, Grady County surpassed Mitchell County in the total number of cases. In the last seven days, there were 45 new cases in Grady County, bringing our total number of cases of COVID-19 to 1,369 compared to Mitchell County’s total of 1,345.
Like Dougherty County, though, Mitchell was hit hard in the beginning of the pandemic, and their death rate remains much higher than Grady County’s with a total of 64 in Mitchell County, and 238 in Dougherty.
The Grady County School System continues to see slight improvement in its numbers, although the number of students testing positive as of Tuesday increased by four since last week to 12. The number of employees who have tested positive remained unchanged at eight.
The number of students on quarantine dropped by 117 to 180 students on quarantine as of Tuesday. The number of employees on quarantine decreased by 15 to nine.
As of Tuesday, Cairo High School had the highest number of students on quarantine at 82 and the most students with positive cases at six. They had one positive employee and one on quarantine.
Washington Middle School had zero positive students as of Tuesday, but did have three positive employees. There were 15 students and three employees on quarantine.
Northside Elementary School had two positive employees and two positive students Tuesday, with four employees and 26 students on quarantine.
Eastside Elementary School had one positive employee and two positive students Tuesday, with 15 students and zero employees on quarantine.
Southside Elementary School reported two positive students and zero positive employees Tuesday with 33 students and zero employees on quarantine.
Whigham School had one positive employee Tuesday. They had zero students or employees on quarantine and zero positive students.
Shiver School had nine students but zero employees on quarantine Tuesday, and zero positive students or employees.
Grady General Hospital was treating 11 COVID-positive patients as of Tuesday, according to Shealy Register, spokeswoman for Archbold Medical Center, which operates the hospital. Archbold Memorial Hospital in Thomasville had 30 COVID-positive patients as of Tuesday, and Mitchell County Hospital in Camilla had two, Register reported.
If other counties are allowed to come to Grady County and test, the numbers will reflect on Grady County bot the county they come from. This is causing false numbers for our county.
Thank you for your post! Actually, public health assigns positive results and deaths from COVID-19 based on the person’s home address instead of where they were tested or where they died. Any Georgian can be tested at any county health department in the state. Every county in Southwest Georgia offers testing on a rotating basis. “We try to have testing not more than one county away, if possible,” says Dr. Charles Ruis, District Health Director.