With BA.5 now dominant COVID variant in Georgia, Chatham sees cases, hospitalizations rise
Zach DennisAs BA.5 becomes the dominant COVID-19 variant in Georgia, it may also be the reason why Chatham County has seen a rise in cases and hospitalizations over the past few weeks.
On July 20, the Coastal Health District reported 1,004 positive COVID cases in Chatham County over the past two weeks. The 7-day rolling average for Chatham is sitting at 77.9 positive cases with the total gradually moving up since an all-time low amount of 6.6 positive cases per seven days in early April.
State region J, the health region that includes Savannah, currently has 64 COVID-19 patients in the hospital — 35 of those patients are in Savannah-area hospitals.
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Dr. Lawton Davis, health director for the Coastal Health District, attributes the rising number to BA.5, which was first reported in the U.S. in April. "I'm really interested in seeing what happens over the next week or two because we've got BA.5 here, and we just had July 4th and are just now entering two weeks out from that."
Chatham County labeled as high level for COVID-19 community levels
Currently, Chatham is labeled as "high level" for COVID-19 community levels, which is determined by the amount of hospital beds being used, the admissions to the hospital and the total number of new COVID-19 cases in an area.
The CDC recommends wearing a mask indoors in public regardless of vaccination status, including in K-12 schools and other community settings.
Recent data:Chatham County's COVID new cases flat; Georgia cases surge 13.8%
"It's not a mandate, but it is an official CDC recommendation," Davis affirmed.
Under-reported cases leaving county a bit in the blind on total numbers
Another issue that the Coastal Health District is working through is the amount of under reported COVID cases coming through the county, Davis said.
According to him, the undercount has less to do with the lack of testing facilities compared to a year or a year and a half ago, and more to do with the prevalence of at-home tests.
"At-home tests do not get counted in the official statistics. Even if you do want (an) at home (test), the person does one home (test) and calls in. That's great. We can provide advice and do some contact tracing. The person still doesn't get entered into the official count," Davis said.
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"I don't know how to tell you what the actual number is. I know that people who work in the area have estimated that the actual numbers may be...from five to 10 times higher than what you see in the official numbers."
Davis said complacency around the virus could be something that affects the numbers.
"I think people are somewhat more complacent because of the disconnect between the number of cases and the severity of illness and hospitalizations, and that's a good thing," Davis said. "But, we still have some people, unfortunately — a small percentage of a much larger number can still be a significant number of people."
Davis' comments echo those made by state epidemiologist Dr. Cherie Drenzek to the state Board of Public Health in June, saying that as the pandemic goes into year three, there are still opportunities for waves.
“This particular virus has shown us many, many times before that it’s capable of surprising us, changing,” Drenzek said. “No matter what, the normal and traditional prevention measures that we’ve talked about all along remain prudent and remain necessary.”
Zach Dennis is the editor of the arts and culture section and weekly Do Savannah alt-weekly publication at the Savannah Morning News and can be reached at zdennis@savannahnow.com or 912-239-7706.