April 28, 2021 Update

Free Vaccination Clinic on May 1 from 9:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Saturday May 1
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Tuckston United Methodist Church
4175 Lexington Road
Athens, GA 30605

For people age 16 years and older
Free ice cream & free food
Free transportation. For transportation to the vaccine site, call 706-549-1142
Pfizer vaccine will be given
This is a free event; no insurance required.

Register at www.IHCI411.com or call 706-705-2033. Walk-ins Welcome!

Updated CDC Guidance for When You’ve Been Fully Vaccinated

How to Protect Yourself and Others

In general, people are considered fully vaccinated:

2 weeks after their second dose in a 2-dose series, such as the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or
2 weeks after a single-dose vaccine, such as Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine

If you don’t meet these requirements, you are NOT fully vaccinated. Keep taking all precautions until you are fully vaccinated.

What You Can Start to Do if You’ve Been Fully Vaccinated:

You can gather indoors with fully vaccinated people without wearing a mask or staying 6 feet apart.
You can gather indoors with unvaccinated people of any age from one other household (for example, visiting with relatives who all live together) without masks or staying 6 feet apart, unless any of those people or anyone they live with has an increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19.
You can gather or conduct activities outdoors without wearing a mask except in certain crowded settings and venues.
If you travel in the United States, you do not need to get tested before or after travel or self-quarantine after travel.
You need to pay close attention to the situation at your international destination before traveling outside the United States.
You do NOT need to get tested before leaving the United States unless your destination requires it.
You still need to show a negative test result or documentation of recovery from COVID-19 before boarding an international flight to the United States.
You should still get tested 3-5 days after international travel.
You do NOT need to self-quarantine after arriving in the United States.
If you’ve been around someone who has COVID-19, you do not need to stay away from others or get tested unless you have symptoms.
However, if you live in a group setting (like a correctional or detention facility or group home) and are around someone who has COVID-19, you should still stay away from others for 14 days and get tested, even if you don’t have symptoms.

What You Should Keep Doing For Now, if You’ve Been Fully Vaccinated:

You should still protect yourself and others in many situations by wearing a mask that fits snugly against the sides of your face and doesn’t have gaps. Take this precaution whenever you are:
- In indoor public settings
- Gathering indoors with unvaccinated people (including children) from more than one other household
- Visiting indoors with an unvaccinated person who is at increased risk of severe illness or death from COVID-19 or who lives with a person at increased risk
You should still avoid indoor large gatherings.
If you travel, you should still take steps to protect yourself and others. You will still be required to wear a mask on planes, buses, trains, and other forms of public transportation traveling into, within, or out of the United States, and in U.S. transportation hubs such as airports and stations. Fully vaccinated international travelers arriving in the United States are still required to get tested within 3 days of their flight (or show documentation of recovery from COVID-19 in the past 3 months) and should still get tested 3-5 days after their trip.
You should still watch out for symptoms of COVID-19, especially if you’ve been around someone who is sick. If you have symptoms of COVID-19, you should get tested and stay home and away from others.
You will still need to follow guidance at your workplace.
People who have a condition or are taking medications that weaken the immune system, should talk to their healthcare provider to discuss their activities. They may need to keep taking all precautions to prevent COVID-19.

For more information, visit https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/fully-vaccinated.html.

Georgia Department of Public Health Daily Status Report

April 28 Case Update for Athens-Clarke County

The Wednesday, April 28 update shows an increase of 72 positive cases and 2 deaths since Wednesday, April 21.

As of April 27, 25.1% of ACC residents were fully vaccinated.

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

April 1, 2021 - 12,439
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. The statewide Vaccination Dashboard is available at https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/3d8eea39f5c1443db1743a4cb8948a9c.

Northeast Health District Weekly Report Returns - April 26

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..

The newest weekly report for April 26 was released on Wed., April 28.

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: https://publichealthathens.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/NEHD-COVID-Weekly-Report-04262021.pdf.

Positive UGA COVID-19 Tests Reported Through DawgCheck - Week 36 (April 19-25)

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 April 19 include a total of 73 COVID-19 tests; 1 was positive and 72 were negative. The positivity rate was 1.4%.
For the week of April 19, 47% of the tests in the “Other” category were performed in Athens-Clarke and its 5 adjoining counties, and the remaining 53% were located elsewhere in the state. One student reported a test done outside of the state. One instructional faculty member 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.

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.