Polk County lost another resident to COVID-19, marking the third this month and the 18th overall since tracking began according to the Georgia Department of Public Health.

The last time a death was reported in Polk County was on September 5, when the DPH reported that a 67-year-old female who had contracted the virus and had co-morbidity factors died. Prior to that, a Sept. 4 death of an 85-year-old man with co-morbidity factors involved as well were the only two other victims of the virus on the month.

Polk County went 24 days without reporting a new death, based on daily information provided by the DPH.

Only six new cases were reported on the day, bringing the total up to 1,490 people who have tested positive for the virus since tracking began locally in early March. That brings the total number of tests conducted to 11,119 overall, an increase of 45 test results reported by the DPH over the past day. Polk’s rate of positives remained at 13.4% overall, but increased again day-to-day by three-tenths of a percentage point to 7.8% for midweek.

The number of new hospital cases also increased in Polk County day-over-day, up by another 4 new admissions to area medical centers to help Polk County residents who need treatment for the symptoms. The increase to 102 patients treated for the virus from Polk County overall broke a six-day run without a new admission for the virus.

The numbers in Georgia also bounced back upward again after a big decrease heading into the weekend. Some 1,779 new patients were added to the state tally, bringing the overall figure now to 318,026 positive tests results posted by the DPH. The state positive rate went up on the day a tenth of a percentage point to land at 10.2% overall out of the 3.2+ million tests conducted since late February tracking began.

Georgia’s number of hospital patients went up again too, with new admissions increased by 183 on the day and brings the overall number of people treated for COVID-19 to 28,522. Out of that figure, the state’s data reports that 5,269 Georgians have needed intensive care treatment for the virus.

The number of new deaths did drop slightly again on the day, down to 29 people who reported to have perished from the virus on the day. The DPH’s total number of deaths sadly increased with the addition to surpass another grim milestone in the state of 7,021people who have perished from the virus or illnesses worsened by the symptoms of COVID-19.

Nationwide, the numbers remain on the rise.

An additional 38,764 people have tested positive for the virus nationwide from Monday to Tuesday per the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, which brings the overall figure of people who have contracted the virus to 7,168,077.

Sadly, another 774 people have died from the virus or illnesses worsened by COVID-19 according to the Atlanta agency’s latest data that is confirmed as of Tuesday, September 29. That put the overall death toll across the country since tracking began earlier in the year at 205,372.