COVID-19 infections skyrocket in Atlanta area; hospitals fill up

The omicron wave of COVID-19 is rapidly increasing the number of patients infected with the virus in hospitals in Georgia, particularly in the Atlanta area.

The number of patients hospitalized statewide with the virus increased by more than 50% in one week, topping 1,900 on Monday. This is the highest number since mid-October, as the number of patients continued to decline after reaching a state record of more than 6,000 in early September.

The seven-day average of COVID-19 cases in Georgia rose to nearly 8,700 per day on Monday, according to the state’s public health department. This is approaching the peaks Georgia saw in the number of infections in early January and early September.

The share of positive molecular PCR tests hit an all-time high of nearly 31% on Monday. Enough positive tests have been recorded to represent more than 1% of all residents of a 19-county Atlanta metro area in the past two weeks. This is 2 1/2 times the rate of positive tests in the other 140 counties in Georgia during the same period.

The crush is seen in Atlanta-area emergency rooms. As of Monday night, 21 Atlanta-area emergency rooms were refusing ambulances, while only 10 hospital emergencies caring for adults were receiving them, according to state data. Among those who refused emergency medical transportation were flagship hospitals in three of the region’s four major hospital systems: Emory, Piedmont and Northside.

Authorities are urging people who need testing not to block emergency rooms, but rather to seek testing sites and pharmacies.

Dr Danny Branstetter, director of infection prevention for the Wellstar healthcare system of 10 hospitals, said infections spread and manifest symptoms at least as quickly and possibly faster than the delta variant.

“Hospitalizations are not increasing as quickly as previous increases,” Branstetter said. However, the hospitalization is a lag from the new diagnosis of infection. So we could see hospitalizations start to increase over the next week, hopefully not at the same exponential rate.

Branstetter said there is “potential” for hospital capacity to be exceeded, especially as health workers themselves fall ill.

“We are seeing an increase in the spread among our health care providers now,” he said. “So that maybe even limits our healthcare staff available to provide care even further. “

Branstetter said he was also concerned about a limited supply of effective monoclonal antibodies, which had been a useful therapy during the delta wave. He and other officials said immunizations and booster shots remain the most effective way to prevent serious illness.

Katherine Watson, spokesperson for the system at five Northside hospitals, said COVID-19 patients made up 25% of the system’s total adult inpatient population on Monday.

Watson said hospitals continue to manage bed capacity.

“We expect the increase to continue, but we don’t yet know what the total impact will be on our inpatient census,” Watson said.

Deaths are also gradually increasing, now reaching more than 20 per day on average. More than 31,000 people in Georgia have died from COVID-19, according to state figures.

In a hospital district that includes Cobb, Cherokee, Douglas and Paulding counties, COVID-19 patients accounted for nearly a quarter of all patients on Monday, state data showed.

Amid an overwhelming demand for COVID testing, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr and Public Health Commissioner Kathleen Toomey have warned people to make sure they are using a valid testing center and are not overcharged.

“Misinformation from unapproved COVID tests could prevent people from following isolation and quarantine protocols and lead to further transmission of the virus and serious or life-threatening illness,” Toomey said in a statement.

They also cautioned against accepting services from people door-to-door or approaching other people on the street and said it could be a sign of a scam if someone tried. to charge for an in-person test.

Georgians can find test sites at https://dph.georgia.gov/covidtesting, although this list may not include many private test sites.

Carr said his office was aware of reports of overcharging for tests and urges consumers to report potential price increases to consumer.ga.gov or by calling 404-651-8600.