Bulloch County leaders watching COVID case trend as thousands of students prepare to return for classes

STATESBORO, Ga. (WTOC) - College communities like Statesboro could see a rise in COVID cases when students return over the next week or so.

The Bulloch County public safety director said he’s watching and waiting and hoping this surge doesn’t repeat what they saw in the fall.

Ted Wynn says the county saw 56 new cases from Monday to Tuesday and the infection rate is nearly 17 percent when they hope to keep it at five percent or less.

One of his concerns is the influx of people when 20,000 Georgia Southern students return to the community and the number who might return to school exposed or infected.

He’s urging people to get tested if they think they’re exposed and speak with a doctor to get treated as soon as possible to keep people from getting sicker or require a stay in the hospital.

“That’s what it’s all about, trying to protect that medical community from a tremendous uptick in admissions. The concern grows then for the staffing and equipment and supplies to take care of those,” Wynn said.

He said Statesboro’s East Georgia Regional Medical Center has only seven COVID patients right now when they had 70 back in the late summer.

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