COVID-19 Response Update at Sept. 8 Work Session

Work Sessions are non-voting meetings, usually held on the second Tuesday each month, in which the Mayor and Commission receive more detailed presentations on a few specific topics. (Agendas are available at www.accgov.com/agendas each month a few days prior to the meeting).

Beginning in August, each Work Session features a presentation by Manager Blaine Williams and, at times, guests who discuss recent COVID-19 responses by ACCGov and community partners.

The September 8 Work Session featured a presentation by Dr. Stephen Goggans of the Northeast Health District on state and local COVID-19 numbers. Additionally, Manager Williams provided information and updates about local responses including enforcement of the mask ordinance, community support activities, business support activities, and more.

Watch the YouTube video of the presentations (runs 12:58 - 1:41:20)
View a PDF of the ACCGov presentation slides

Fare Free Transit from Sept. 10 - Dec. 31, 2020

Starting Thursday, September 10, ACCGov Transit is fare free through the end of 2020. Anyone can ride Transit buses to any destination throughout Athens-Clarke County for free during this time.

Please note, due to COVID-19, the last drop-off is at 7:00 p.m. or earlier for all routes. The fare free buses are a result of federal CARES Act funding approved by the Mayor and Commission in August.

Visit accgov.com/transit for more information.

4,109 Positive Cases Confirmed in Athens-Clarke County, 35 Deaths

The Georgia Department of Public Health Daily Status Report (https://dph.georgia.gov/covid-19-daily-status-report) confirms 4,109 positive cases of COVID-19 and 35 deaths reported in Athens-Clarke County as of 2:50 p.m. on September 4.

ACCGov updates the graphic with case information on it most Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays for social media. The graphic was updated as of September 4 to now include the increase in positive cases since the last update and the number of deaths.

The September 9 update shows an increase of 699 positive cases and 3 deaths since Friday, September 4.

These are cumulative cases total since February 25, 2020. For reference, cumulative numbers from the beginning of each month:

September 1 - 3,082
August 1 - 1,694
July 1 - 574
June 1 - 293
May 1 - 155
April 1 - 54
March 1 - 4

The Daily Status Report is now updated once daily at 3:00 p.m. to allow time to process and validate laboratory and case reports. If you view the data, please be sure to check the area showing the definitions of the information presented. Some, such as "hospitalizations," have different meanings than what may be expected.

Northeast Health District Weekly Report - Sept. 7

On August 10, the Georgia Department of Public Health's (DPH) Northeast Health District began producing a weekly COVID-19 testing report for the 10 county district that covers Athens-Clarke, Barrow, Elbert, Greene, Jackson, Madison, Morgan, Oconee, Oglethorpe, and Walton counties.

Athens-Clarke County's page of the report is shown in the two graphs above.

The newest weekly report for Sept. 7 was released on Wed., Sept. 9.

The report includes county-by-county information about:

Total number of PCR tests performed by all providers reported to DPH
Percent of total tested with positive results
Positive cases per 100,000 total population
Cumulative number hospitalized
Percent of positive cases requiring hospitalization
Cumulative deaths
Percent of positive cases who died
Deaths per 100,000 total population
Positive cases by race/ethnicity and age (from tests performed by the Northeast Health District only - does not include other providers)

While reports are dated on Monday and use data for the previous week, the reports will usually be posted on Wednesday due to the time required to assemble and confirm the report.

The report is available each week at: publichealthathens.com/wp/programs/infectious-disease/coronavirus-covid-19-information/athens-district-covid-data/

Positive UGA COVID-19 Tests Reported Through DawgCheck - Week 4 (Aug. 31 - Sept. 6)

The University of Georgia DawgCheck tool gives members of the campus community the ability to self-monitor and to facilitate information sharing internally and with the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH). Any student or employee with a positive COVID-19 test is required to report the test in DawgCheck.

The table above reflects the total number of positive test results reported through DawgCheck each week. It is updated every Wednesday. Please note the following:

Positive tests reported through DawgCheck are from any of the approximately 50,000 faculty, staff, and students connected to the University of Georgia, whether located in Athens, extended campuses, extension offices across the state, or even other states and countries for students who elected to take online classes.
The totals may include reports from individuals who have not been on campus recently, there may be delays in reporting, and the totals may even include individuals who have recovered.
Therefore, the data does not serve as an accurate barometer of the current status of COVID-19 at any point in time at any one of UGA’s campuses.
The “Other” category in the survey tool is provided to indicate that a test was not done by a resource in the Athens-Clarke County community. Many of the positive reports in this category are reported to be from urgent care clinics and testing centers at a wide variety of locations in and out of the state of Georgia.
The University has no way to validate the majority of these reports or the quality of those unknown testing sites but is reporting them as submitted.

DawgCheck and other University of Georgia-related COVID information is available at the University Health Center website at https://uhs.uga.edu/healthtopics/covid-19-health-and-exposure-updates.

Frequency of Updates

This coronavirus email / text update is sent once to twice a week during normal weeks, with other updates as necessary with important information.

Questions can still be directed to www.accgov.com/coronavirus, which will be updated regularly, the info line at 706-613-3333, or coronavirus@accgov.com.