ATLANTA, GA — Sunday’s report of 3,177 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 in a day, the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus, comes as Georgia is about to open a free mega-testing site near Atlanta. The site opens Aug. 10 near Hartsfield Jackson Atlanta Airport.
On Sunday the Georgia Department of Public Health reported more than 3,000 new cases, along with 13 deaths and 72 hospitalizations. The numbers are a drop from Saturday’s tally of 4,445 new cases, a one-day death toll of and 274 more hospitalizations.
The mega-testing site has the capacity to test 5,000 people a day and is located at 1800 Sullivan Road, College Park. It will operate from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday through Aug. 26. Testing is available to all Georgians regardless of symptoms, but appointments and online registrations are recommended.
To register online and to make an appointment go to https://www.doineedacovid19test.com/.
Test results will be available in 48 to 72 hours. Georgia residents from any county may be tested at the metro Atlanta site.
Tests are done by nasal swab and are self-administered. A video demonstrating the test can be found at https://youtu.be/vsQVxsQY3jc.
Widespread testing and contact tracing, along with social distancing, wearing masks or face coverings in public and frequent handwashing, are critical to preventing further spread of COVID-19 in Georgia.
“COVID-19 has undermined the health and well-being of many Georgians while generating economic hardship for even more,” Gov. Brian Kemp tweeted Saturday. “Even though we are seeing encouraging signs, the fight to protect lives & livelihoods continues. Stay vigilant & let’s win the war!”
Those who test positive for COVID-19 don’t necessarily become ill — in some cases, they may not even show symptoms — but they may spread the coronavirus to others who are vulnerable.
State health officials said a total of 213,427 confirmed cases of COVID-19 at 2:50 p.m. Saturday. According to the health department’s website, that includes 4,445 newly confirmed cases over the last 24 hours.
Georgia also reported 4,186 deaths so far from COVID-19, with 72 more deaths recorded in the last 24 hours. In addition, the state reported 20,556 hospitalizations — 274 more than the day before — and 3,739 admissions so far to intensive-care units.
No information is available from Georgia about how many patients have recovered.
Counties in or near metro Atlanta continue to have the highest number of positives, with Fulton County still in the lead and passing 20,000 positive tests for COVID-19 on Saturday. Also, Hall County passed 6,000 for the first time Saturday.
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Fulton County: 20,276 cases — 227 new
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Gwinnett County: 19,808 cases — 260 new
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DeKalb County: 13,923 cases — 171 new
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Cobb County: 13,564 13,336 cases — 228 new
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Hall County: 6,080 cases — 45 new
Counties in or near metro Atlanta also continue to have the most deaths from COVID-19.
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Fulton County: 430 deaths — no new fatalities
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Cobb County: 319 deaths — no new fatalities
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Gwinnett County: 260 deaths — no new fatalities
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DeKalb County: 237 deaths — no new fatalities
As of Sunday, Georgia has administered more than 2.11 million COVID-19 tests. For the more reliable test for the virus itself, 10.9 percent of tests came back positive. For the less reliable test for antibodies, 6.8 percent came back positive.
As more Georgians were tested over the last few weeks, positive percentages for both the virus test and tests overall have inched upward. On July 6, the percentage of tests overall that came back positive was only 8.7 percent.
All Georgia statistics are available on the state’s COVID-19 website.
Globally, more than 19.7 million people have been tested positive for COVID-19, and nearly 728,000 people have died from it, Johns Hopkins University reported Sunday.
In the United States, more than 5 million people have been infected and 162,751 people have died from COVID-19 as of Sunday. The U.S. has only about 4 percent of the world’s population but more confirmed cases and deaths than any other country.
This article originally appeared on the Douglasville Patch
