September 30, 2020 Update

Athens Eats Together

Athens Eats Together is a county-wide initiative created to provide emergency food relief to any Athens-Clarke County resident, regardless of age, who is facing food insecurities due to COVID-19.

Funded by the Athens-Clarke County Unified Government, this collaborative effort is being led by the Athens Community Council on Aging (ACCA) and brings together expertise and resources from the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia, Epting Events, the Athens Farmers Market, and Family Connection – Communities in Schools of Athens.

It is estimated that the Athens Eats Together program will provide over 690,000 meals to 10,000 Athenians.

To enroll in Athens Eats Together and begin receiving meals, you can:

Complete the online enrollment form (accaging.org/athenseatstogether)
Call 1-888-420-7798
Email food@accaging.org

Athens Eats Together Volunteer Opportunities

ACCA needs volunteers to deliver meals around Athens-Clarke County. Their no-contact delivery process keeps both volunteers and meal recipients safe. If interested, please contact Ellen Everitt at 706-549-4850 or eeveritt@accaging.org for more information.

5,084 Positive Cases Confirmed in Athens-Clarke County, 44 Deaths

The Georgia Department of Public Health Daily Status Report (https://dph.georgia.gov/covid-19-daily-status-report) confirms 5,084 positive cases of COVID-19 and 44 deaths reported in Athens-Clarke County as of 2:50 p.m. on September 30.

ACCGov updates the graphic with case information on it most Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays for social media. The graphic includes the increase in positive cases since the last update and the number of deaths.

The September 30 update shows an increase of 49 positive cases and no deaths since Monday, September 28.

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. 28

The Georgia Department of Public Health's (DPH) Northeast Health District produces 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 below:

Northeast Health District County Report - Athens-Clarke County - Sept. 28

Northeast Health District - Positive Cases by Race / Ethnicity

The newest weekly report for Sept. 28 was released on Wed., Sept. 30.

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 7 (Sept. 21-27)

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.

DawgCheck Reports: Positive COVID-19 Tests by Week

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 may indicate that a test was not done by a resource in the Athens-Clarke County community. For example, for the week of September 14, about half of the tests in the “Other” category were done in Athens-Clarke County, half were from 12 other counties in Georgia, and 2 tests were performed out-of-state.
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, usually on Wednesdays and Fridays, 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.