Two more deaths from COVID-19 were added to the tally today, though the overall number of new cases remains relatively low compared to the holiday spike and months prior.
The Georgia Department of Public Health’s afternoon update for March 25 reported the death of two more people. Additional data from the DPH’s database that wasn’t previously available about deaths makes it difficult to pinpoint exactly who recently died of the virus, but what’s know is available in the most recent update of Polk.Today’s tracking of deaths posted prior to this update.
It brings the overall death toll to 77, and put the COVID deaths in Polk County at 33 on the year. A death was also added on Monday, March 22 as well.
Overall totals of PCR and antigen positives remained at low-level growth for the day. The PCR are now up to 3,851 overall – the largest increase in recent days was 17 on March 19, but was back down to just three on the day to get to the latest total. Antigen positives only rose by one on the day, but since the last update has jumped some to 1,556 in total.
Combined, Polk County’s overall total of COVID-19 cases reported since last March now stands at 5,407 in total. Some 15.4% of test results have come back positive since tracking began, and 9.6% have come back in the past two weeks. Slightly up from where it was earlier in the month.
Hospitalizations overall remained low during the past weeks as well, only rising for the first time since March 15 to 360 on Wednesday, March 24, and then jumped by another two today to 362 in total.
1,051,361 people over the past year since tracking began statewide have contracted the virus and been found through PCR or antigen testing (846,745 PCR positives to date, 204,616 antigen positives included.) Georgia’s death toll stood at 16,336 on the day, and the hospitalizations were at 58,304 as of this report.
Probable deaths remained at 10 locally, and were up to 2,415 statewide.
Nationally, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention put the total number of cases since January 2020 in the United States at 29,834,734, and the number of deaths now sits at 542,584 since tracking began.
The good news is the expansion of vaccination for the virus opening up in Georgia today to those who are 16 years or older.
Some 3,378,301 Georgians have so far been vaccinated with at least the first dose as of the latest update from the Department of Public Health’s dashboard, and 133,305,295 doses have been administered nationwide.
Check back for an update on COVID-19 next week.
