March 17, 2021 Update

COVID-19 Vaccination Medical Conditions

The "certain medical conditions" referenced are:

Asthma (moderate to severe)
Cancer
Cerebrovascular disease
Chronic kidney disease
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Cystic Fibrosis
Diabetes
Hypertension or high blood pressure
Heart conditions
Immunocompromised (from blood or bone marrow transplant, immune deficiencies, HIV, use of corticosteroids, or use of other immune weakening medicines)
Liver disease
Neurologic conditions
Overweight and obesity (Obesity is defined as a body mass index (BMI) of 30 kg/m2 or more, overweight is defined as a BMI of more than 25 kg/m2. A BMI calculator is available at: https://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/assessing/bmi/adult_bmi/english_bmi_calculator/bmi_calculator.html)
Pregnancy
Pulmonary fibrosis
Sickle Cell Disease
Thalassemia (blood disorder)

To find a vaccine location near you or to schedule an appointment, log on to
https://dph.georgia.gov/covid-vaccine. Local vaccine locations are also listed on the vaccine page at www.accgov.com/coronavirus.

For individuals aged 16 and 17 who are in an eligible population for vaccination, Pfizer is the only vaccine currently approved for these ages. Please schedule an appointment at CVS or Walgreens or at one of the GEMA mass vaccination sites to ensure Pfizer vaccine is available to you.

Message from Mayor Kelly Girtz - March 11, 2021

A message from Athens-Clarke County Mayor Kelly Girtz about the recent expansion of qualifying groups who can receive the COVID-19 vaccine in Georgia, federal funding opportunities through the American Rescue Plan, ACCGov grant funding for non-profits, an arrest record restriction event on April 17, and the Cedar Creek Water Reclamation Facility progressing in the Knope Award competition and needing your vote to move on.

Watch the video at www.accgov.com/coronavirus or on YouTube at https://youtu.be/hRIunltu6WY.

GA DPH Northeast Health District COVID-19 Testing Changes

Effective Monday, March 15, Mako Medical Laboratories assumed testing for COVID-19 for the Northeast Health District to allow the district to focus on vaccinations at their Oneta Street and Health Department sites.

The change also allows testing to shift to five days per week at a new location on Atlanta Highway.

Mako COVID-19 Testing Information & Registration

Monday - Friday
8:30 AM to 4:30 PM

3500 Atlanta Hwy, Athens GA 30606
** ENTER VIA MITCHELL BRIDGE ROAD **
Old Fire Station #2 in the corner of Atlanta Hwy & Mitchell Bridge Road
Near Aldi and Publix

Registration Information:

Online: https://mako.exchange/splash/GAmakotesting – scroll down to “Clarke County” and click the “Register Now” link in the right column.
Call for help with registration: 844-625-6522 - press 1, and tell the customer service representative you need help registering in Georgia. * If you do have access to online registration, please use it if possible in order for the phone lines to be available for those who need help.

Notes:

Pre-registration is required but appointments aren’t. Once registered, you can come anytime that is convenient during the open hours of the site.
This is still a free test. Insurance will be utilized first, and if you don’t have insurance they will bill the HRSA (government fund). Either way it will be of no cost to the person.

Governor's Executive Order for March 16-31

Governor's Statewide Executive Order for March 16-31

On March 12, 2021 Governor Kemp signed Executive Order 03.12.21.01, outlining revised and continued guidance for Empowering a Healthy Georgia. The changes to the Executive Order are detailed below:

Combines the restaurant and bar requirements to hold both types of establishments to the same standards; and
Streamlines suggestions and requirements for Critical Infrastructure and Non-Critical Infrastructure organizations to remove unnecessary requirements based on existing standard operating procedures for organizations and the ineffectiveness of certain measures; and
Includes 2021 high school graduates, home study graduates, and GED recipients in previously ordered HOPE and Zell Miller Scholarship testing requirement modifications.

The provisions in the order are effective from March 16, 2021 at 12:00 a.m. until March 31, 2021 at 11:59 p.m., unless otherwise noted therein.

Read a PDF of the full order

Georgia Department of Public Health Daily Status Report

March 17 Case Update for Athens-Clarke County

The Wednesday, March 17 update shows an increase of 90 positive cases and 2 deaths since Wednesday, March 10.

For reference, here are the cumulative numbers from the beginning of each month:

March 1, 2021 - 12,004
February 1, 2021 - 11,162
January 1, 2021 - 8,580
December 1 - 6,732
November 1 - 5,872
October 1 - 5,121
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. The Daily Status Report is available at https://dph.georgia.gov/covid-19-daily-status-report.

Positive UGA COVID-19 Tests Reported Through DawgCheck - Week 30 (March 8-14)

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.

Last Five Weeks of Tests

Positive COVID-19 Tests Reported Through DawgCheck

Visit the UGA Health Center Website with these graphs and other updates.

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.
Since August 10, UGA has supported surveillance testing (Legion Field) for asymptomatic individuals and clinical (Health Center) testing resources for symptomatic students as a means of distancing the two populations and optimizing the use of Health Center staff and the facility. Because students are showing symptoms when they request a test at the Health Center, it is expected that its tests would have a significantly higher positivity rate than would be the case for those who are asymptomatic when tested.
Results of testing at the University Health Center for the week of March 1 include a total of 123 COVID-19 tests; 6 were positive and 117 were negative. The positivity rate was 4.9%.
For the week of March 8, 70% of the tests in the “Other” category were performed in Athens-Clarke and its 5 adjoining counties, and the remaining 30% were located elsewhere in the state. No students reported a positive test done outside of the state. No instructional faculty members reported a positive test.

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.

Northeast Health District Weekly Report - March 15

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 first of the two charts below, while the second one shows the previous week's report for comparison purposes.

Current and Previous Week's Reports

Northeast Health District County Report - Athens-Clarke County - March 1

Georgia Department of Public Health Northeast Health District Weekly Report

The newest weekly report for March 15 was released on Wed., March 17

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/

Frequency of Updates

This coronavirus email / text update is sent weekly during normal weeks, usually on Wednesdays, 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.