The state’s Covid cases and hospitalizations have dipped over the past week, Georgia health officials have reported. But that drop isn’t relieving the pressure on the front lines of hospitals — both smaller facilities and large urban centers. Take Appling Healthcare, which operates a rural hospital of 34 beds in Baxley, in southeast Georgia. The…
Vaccines and masks are two powerful weapons that people can use against Covid-19. But Georgia is failing to use those weapons effectively, a new GHN Commentary argues. Dr. Harry Heiman, a public health expert at Georgia State University, says that with so many Covid outbreaks in schools, “all kindergarten through Grade 12 schools should institute…
About 60 percent of current Covid outbreaks in Georgia are occurring in K-12 schools across the state, public health officials said Tuesday. That’s seven times more than the child outbreaks in previous virus surges, Cherie Drenzek, the state epidemiologist, told the board of the Department of Public Health. Cases, hospitalizations and deaths among children have…
Georgia hospital officials were scrambling Friday to gauge the impact of President Biden’s order for health care workers to get vaccinated for Covid-19. The mandate would apply to health care facilities that treat Medicare and Medicaid patients – virtually all hospitals – as well as dialysis centers, surgery centers and home care operations. (Nursing homes…
Since it hit the United States a year and a half ago, the Covid pandemic has led to several significant shortages in the care of patients, from personal protective equipment to hospital personnel. Hospital officials say a new shortage has emerged in Georgia: oxygen concentrators, which are devices that give a patient extra oxygen. The…
The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing to add a westside Atlanta area that’s contaminated with lead to the Superfund program’s National Priorities List (NPL), which would allow more federal funding for clean-up. The Superfund program, created in 1980, has the responsibility of identifying dangerously polluted sites around the nation, cleaning them up and when possible,…
The number of confirmed Covid deaths in Georgia has now surpassed 20,000, state officials said Friday. In addition, there are more than 3,000 “probable’’ deaths from Covid, according to the state Public Health website. Georgia’s first confirmed Covid death was in March 2020. “It is tragic but not surprising that we have surpassed this grim…
More than half of all Georgia public school students are now required to wear masks in class, the Associated Press reported recently. One physician organization would like to see mask requirements extended to more schools – and to other settings. In a new GHN Commentary, the president of the Georgia State Medical Association points out…
The state has broken its record for Covid patient hospitalizations, and has reached 5,880, a Public Health spokeswoman said Tuesday. The previous mark was set Jan. 12 at 5,814 hospitalized virus patients during the third Covid surge, according to Nancy Nydam, the spokeswoman. (The agency’s website Tuesday shows a lower hospitalization figure.) Meanwhile, several other…
Adding a new incentive for Georgia teachers and state employees to get vaccinated is among several moves Gov. Brian Kemp announced Monday to combat the recent relentless wave of Covid. About 325,000 State Health Benefit Plan (SHBP) members are eligible for the incentive, Kemp said at a press conference. It would equate to a $150…