Some good news for those who continue to track and wait for cases to go down for COVID-19 locally: measurable drops are being noted in daily tracking of the virus per the latest from the Georgia Department of Public Health.

Only 28 cases have been reported over the past two days for the virus – 23 on Sunday, and five today – and only one new hospitalization was reported as the weekend closed and the new week began.

Some 3,326 total cases of COVID-19 have been reported as of Monday afternoon’s update from the Georgia Department of Public Health, bringing the total for the month so far to 727.

Over the past three days, cases have once again trended downward overall for new positives locally compared to the heights seen earlier in the month, when a record day of new positives was recorded on January 8 with 75.

The total number of new antigen positive cases for the past two days was also trending down, with only 16 added on Sunday and Monday combined. That brought the overall figure to 1,268 antigen positives for the county since tracking began for that figure last year.

The overall rate of positives remained at 16.2%, while the two week average continues to drop after a high earlier in the month at 32.6%. It is back down now to 20.4%, dropping nearly two full percentage points between Saturday’s report and today’s report.

With the total number of positives locally for PCR cases, and the percentage, the county has thus far reported 20,530.

There was only one new hospitalization over the past two days, bringing the total to 288. The number of deaths remained flat for the past two days at 59 overall.

January is the deadliest month locally for COVID-19 at 15 people who have perished from the virus or its symptoms worsening other medical issues within victims. Probable deaths remained at three overall after an increase in recent days.

The statewide numbers began to trend downward over the weekend as well. After more than 6,000 positives were reported on Saturday, the 4,200+ and 3,500+ COVID-19 cases reported today is much less than what has been seen.

However, the number of deaths continues to rise even after only three were reported on Sunday, and 53 more were added in this afternoon’s update. Additionally, the 228 hospitalizations reported over the past two days saw the overall figure increase to 48,498 people who have been treated since tracking began last February. ICU admissions also were trending down again, with only

The overall number of deaths stood at 11,854 since last February, and the number of probable deaths now stood at 1,449 as of the Monday afternoon report.

Statewide, cases stood at 722,062 for PCR positives, and 148,766 antigen positives cases. That kept the overall percentage of positives out of the total tests administered at 11.1%.

National figures had not yet been updated from Sunday’s last report, but that put the total closer another milestone. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention put the total at 24,876,261 cases – 171,844 added to end the weekend. The total number of deaths rose by another 3,414, bringing the overall number since January 21, 2020 at 416,010.