COVID delta variant on the decline in Albany area, but nearly 80 remain hospitalized

ALBANY — Non-medical staff are returning to their regular duties at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital and elective surgeries are being scheduled again, but COVID-19 is still an active presence in the area.

Seventy-nine patients were hospitalized for COVID-19 treatment in Phoebe Putney Health System facilities, 62 in Albany and 17 in Americus. Of those, 30 were in an intensive care unit and 23 were on ventilators.

“I’m sad to say seven persons have lost their lives in the past seven days at Phoebe,” Dr. Kathy Hudson, chief medical officer of Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital in Albany, said during a Friday coronavirus news conference. “The good news is it looks like we’re on the back side for the delta variant.”

September was the third-busiest month for the hospital since the pandemic began.

During the current surge, the system has admitted 977 COVID patients since July 15, with an average age of 55, Hudson said. Fifty-seven percent of those admitted were younger than 60.

The hospital, which initiated a helping hands program in which non-clinical staff performed functions such as answering phones to allow medical staff more time to treat patients, is reassigning those personnel back to their regular duties. Elective surgeries, which were slowed and then halted completely at the height of the surge, are now being scheduled again.

Of those hospitalized during the surge, 87 percent were not vaccinated, Hudson said.

The transmission rate still remains relatively high in the community, with some 32 new positive cases diagnosed per day over the past 14 days in Dougherty County, according to Dr. Charles Ruis, medical director for Public Health District 8-2.

Residents who have not gotten vaccinated can get a shot of the two-dose Pfizer vaccine or the one-dose Johnson & Johnson product during a Monday clinic during which recipients will be rewarded with a $25 gift card, he said.

The clinic, sponsored by the Community Organized Relief Effort (CORE), will take place from 8 a.m-noon. at the Old Mt. Zion Church, 1905 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.

Over the past week, the number of county residents who have died due to complications of COVID-19 has increased to 357, Dougherty County Coroner Michael Fowler said.

“We’re averaging one a day,” he said. “Six of the deaths (at Phoebe) were Dougherty County residents.”

Staff Photo: Alan MauldinAlanMauldin[email protected]