Cases have been rising in Georgia but are still at a low level. Test positivity is also rising, though still under 5%, and with testing volume decreasing. With less asymptomatic testing, our thresholds for “good” test positivity will need to shift. The biggest case increases have been in the Metro Atlanta region, but other regions have started increasing some as well. I added a page for Regional Graphs where you can this quite clearly, and included a static case graph by region below. By onset date, cases in Metro Atlanta started climbing in mid-March, almost two weeks prior to the other regions. If this mini-wave follows previous patterns of rising for about 8 weeks, cases will peak around mid-May in Metro Atlanta and late May in the rest of the state.
Hospital metrics in Georgia have risen a little from recent record lows, but are still very low. New CDC metrics were announced in late February that incorporate hospital rates as well as more realistic case rates, and they show the country in a pretty good position right now, with most of the country now in the Low level. Although cases have been rising in many states, hospitalizations nationwide have remained very low due to prior immunity from vaccination and infection. This small spring wave seems to be having the most impact in the Northern US, particularly the Northeast, but the case curve is already starting to turn down in NYC, before the city ever reached the Medium Covid Community level according to the new CDC metrics.
Deaths are still falling in Georgia, and but reported deaths are likely inflated due to reporting lag. For the past several weeks, a majority of the deaths reported have been from the Omicron peak (Dec. 2021 – Feb. 2022), when death reporting got backed up.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Friday, April 15 marked the last day of daily Covid reporting by Georgia DPH. They are now updating once a week, on Wednesday, as of April 20. I think this change is long overdue, and I am full support of it. While I’ve updated my graphs daily, I have said for a long time that a weekly review of the data is more than enough, and allows people to see real trends without being distracted by day-to-day fluctuations. I’ve been updating my web site and visualizations to focus on weekly reporting going forward. Some things have moved around or been revised to help fit with the weekly reporting change. If you’re looking for something and can’t find it, please let me know!