Congressman says Fort Benning controls adequate for COVID

In the past four days, Chattahoochee County has reported 223 COVID-19 cases, including 59 new confirmed infections Thursday. Leaders at the national level have their eyes on Fort Benning, which is one of the Army’s largest training posts and is located mainly in Chattahoochee County. Congressman Sanford Bishop toured Fort Benning on Thursday to observe updated…

Mercer’s new medical school in Columbus to help ‘underserved’

Local officials and state leaders, including Gov. Brian Kemp and Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, were in Columbus on Thursday to celebrate the ground breaking of the upcoming Mercer University School of Medicine Columbus Campus. The campus will be built on six acres west of First Avenue and north of the train overpass adjacent to the…

Troup County students, staff quarantined after exposure

Two students in the Troup County School System have tested positive for the coronavirus in the first week of the fall 2020 semester, the district announced Wednesday night. The infections mean 44 students and five employees who had direct contact with the infected students are in quarantine for 14 days. Read the full article: Columbus Ledger-Enquirer 

Columbus area churches combine to feed hungry

A record number of churches partnered together this past weekend to feed hungry residents in the Chattahoochee Valley as the coronavirus pandemic continues to exacerbate food insecurity. Hundreds of boxes of food were given to those in need Saturday as part of a partnership between 14 churches in the Columbus area. The drive-thru giveaway aimed to…

New Fort Benning commander takes aggressive approach to fighting COVID

Fort Benning’s new commander knows the Army can’t afford a COVID-19 outbreak at the post that trains 35% of the branch’s fighting force, so he’s mounting an aggressive defense against the spreading pandemic. Taking command Friday from Lt. Gen. Gary Brito, who’s now serving the Secretary of the Army at the Pentagon, Maj. Gen. Patrick Donahoe immediately issued an order…

Record number of new cases reported Saturday

The Georgia Department of Public Health reported nearly 140,000 cumulative COVID-19 cases Saturday, up a record 4,689 cases in a 24-hour period. Read the full article: Columbus Ledger-Enquirer

Columbus hospitals won’t release COVID patient numbers

Columbus physician Dr. Glenn Fussell said he felt like he had to make a public service announcement as west-central Georgia’s largest city was having a “run” of the novel coronavirus. It wasn’t just the result of more testing like he initially suspected. More infected patients were showing up in city hospitals, he said. Read the full…

Nearly 1,000 new COVID cases in state in 24 hours

The Georgia Department of Public Health at 10:25 a.m. Friday confirmed 27,023 cases of COVID-19 in the state, up by 763 from the last update at 7 p.m. Thursday. Georgia reported 26,033 cases at noon Thursday. Over a nearly 24-hour period, Georgia reported 990 new cases. Read the full article: Columbus Ledger-Enquirer

Do Georgia hospitals have enough beds to handle the surge?

Parts of Georgia have coronavirus infection rates rivaling the hardest-hit regions across the world, and even as testing capacity increases, the state still lags far behind other regions of the country in the number of tests per person it’s performing. Experts say the worst has yet to come, and Georgia’s hospitals are preparing. Read the full…