The biggest one-day increase in COVID-19 cases in months was reported today, and the past three days have seen numbers jump once again due to the virus.

Today’s report also noted the first death from the virus in five days, bringing the overall tally to 26. The latest death was that of another 82-year-old male with unknown co-morbidity factors.

The Georgia Department of Public Health reports eight deaths so far from the virus in October alone.

Polk County over the past three days also added 14 hospital patients for the virus, (3 on Tuesday, 6 on Wednesday and another 5 admissions reported today) and have also added 56 cases in the past three days. The DPH reported 34 of those in the past day. That brought the two-week percentage of new positives to 11.2% – up from 9.2% on Tuesday and 10.4% on Wednesday – and put the total percentage of positives at 12.4%, decreasing after bouncing back and forth between 12.5 and 12.6%.

The total number of tests administered up to this point now sits at 13,572 overall.

Georgia’s overall testing continues to see positives go up as well. The state now sits at 345,535 cases of COVID-19 in total, out of 3.6+ million and counting results reported back to the Department of Public Health. Today’s increase alone was at 1,824 positives added, and over the past three days cases have increased by 4,350 and have trended upward in that time.

Hospitalizations have also bounced around some, but on Tuesday and Today were both reported at 153 admissions. There were 135 on Wednesday, and some 30,829 people have been treated in total for COVID-19 statewide. Medical centers have also provided 5,774 people with intensive care treatment for the virus across Georgia.

Sadly, some 7,729 people have died from COVID-19 in the state, today’s number at 27 in total. There were 30 deaths on Wednesday, and 18 deaths recorded on Tuesday.

Nationwide, the death toll now sits at 221,438 people confirmed as of Wednesday according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the nation surpassing the 220,000 mark on Wednesday.

Overall, some 8,312,667 people have contracted the virus per the CDC’s figures.