Phoebe officials think virus may have reached winter peak

ALBANY — It seems all good news associated with the coronavirus pandemic now comes with an asterisk.

Officials with southwest Georgia’s Phoebe Putney Health System confirmed Tuesday that, yes, the virus has apparently reached its winter peak in the region. But the threat of an outbreak of highly contagious variants of the virus tempers the good news of lower infection rates in the region.

As of noon Tuesday, the number of COVID-19 patients being treated at Phoebe facilities had dropped to 114, 92 at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital in Albany and 22 at Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus.

“Over the last three days, we have admitted 12 COVID-19 patients in Albany,” health system President/CEO Scott steiner said Tuesday. “That is our lowest three-day total in nearly two months and an indication we may have passed the peak of our winter surge. We hope that will be the last major surge of this pandemic, though experts are concerned new, more contagious variants of the virus could increase the infection rate significantly in the spring.”

As of noon Tuesday, Phoebe’s COVID-19 numbers included:

♦ COVID-19 patients in Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital: 92;

♦ COVID-19 patients in Phoebe Sumter Medical Center: 22;

♦ COVID-19 patients in Phoebe Worth Medical Center: 0;

♦ Total hospital inpatients recovered: 1,897;

♦ Total COVID-19-related deaths at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital: 232;

♦ Total COVID-19-related deaths from Phoebe Sumter: 58;

♦ Total vaccines administered: 17,059.

Steiner lamented the fatal impact of the virus in the region during January, noting 38 patients in the Phoebe Health System had died from the disease in January.

“The virus continues to take a heart-wrenching toll on our communities,” he said. “Thirty-eight COVID-19 patients in our health system lost their lives in January, making it the third-deadliest month of the pandemic behind only the early days of our COVID-19 fight last March and April.

“We must continue to take the virus seriously. The end of the pandemic may be in sight, but only if we take the proper steps to protect ourselves and those around us.”

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