Georgia Week in Review – May 18

Cases continue to rise in Georgia, but we may be nearing a peak. As I described last week, test positivity continues to increase, but other metrics are not following the same trajectory as the increases in positivity like they have during past waves. You can see this clearly in the graph below. Previous waves all the lines moved up and down together, with big differences starting to appear during the Omicron wave with cases outpacing other metrics, and now all the metrics are staying relatively low, while positivity increases steadily.

(An interactive version of this graph is on my home page.)

Hospital metrics in Georgia have risen a little from recent record lows, but current hospitalizations are still very low and are showing signs that they may be leveling off. Most of the increases in hospitalizations are among seniors.

Deaths are continuing to decline in Georgia, with the 7-day average of reported deaths now around 10, as we are finally getting past the reporting lags from the Omicron peak (Dec. 2021 – Feb. 2022). This is the first week in a long time where a majority of the deaths reported occurred after the Omicron peak.