Favorable trends continue in Dougherty COVID-19 battle; virus still present throughout southwest Georgia

ALBANY — There won’t be any toasts made at a local watering hole tonight, but the tone on Tuesday was a celebratory one in terms of Dougherty County’s progress in its two-month battle with COVID-19.

New coronavirus cases have declined since a peak in late March or early April, and more patients are being discharged and admitted daily to area hospitals.

Even more encouragingly, though there have been 125 deaths of Dougherty County residents who tested positive for the coronavirus, there have been no deaths this week, County Coroner Michael Fowler said.

That said, health officials and elected leaders warned during a Tuesday news conference that a relaxation in social distancing could undo that progress as businesses continue to come back online after being closed for weeks.

At one point, the county was arguably the most intense hot spot in the nation in terms of per-capita infections, Dougherty County Commission Chairman said.

“We are seeing measurable, positive trends in terms of flattening the curve,” he said. “When I talk about flattening the curve, I’m talking about the numbers who are being infected each day, the numbers that are entering the hospital each day.

“Why are we trending downward? Because we took early and decisive action. We took immediate action to swiftly enact measures.”

As Albany and Dougherty County enter the next phase of the pandemic, the measures that resulted in the turnaround need to be continued, officials said.

They stressed that those who have underlying health conditions or are elderly and thus more susceptible to the disease and more likely to become critically ill should avoid going out in public unless absolutely necessary. People should continue to wear masks, maintain a distance of at least 6 feet between others while in public, avoid touching their face and frequently wash hands or use hand sanitizer.

“These are complex times, and we are going through a complex process,” Cohilas said. “We’re living in a different world. We may be wearing masks six or nine months down the line. I don’t know.”

Deaths for the county peaked at 25 during the week of April 5-11, Fowler said, with the first deaths occurring the week beginning March 15, when there were 10 deaths. Of the total of 125, 101 died at a hospital either in Albany or another city, 18 were nursing home residents and six died at a residence.

The black community has been hardest hit, with 97 deaths. Twenty-seven victims were white and one was Latino.

“As I have said: If you see the coroner wearing a mask, you need to wear a mask,” Fowler said. “I want to thank those who have been practicing social distancing. We want to say thank you for your prayers. We want to say thank you for what you have done.”

At Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital, there were 67 COVID-19 patients hospitalized and 16 at Phoebe Sumter Medical Center in Americus.

Over the previous 24 hours, there had been four new admissions of COVID-19 patients, said Dr. Steven Kitchen, Phoebe’s chief medical officer.

“We have had over 160 patients with COVID-19 — either in general medical units or one of our intensive care units,” he said.

“What’s been the driving force in that (decline)? It’s directly related to the public health measures that we put into place and the very bold measures that were put into place by your city, county and state officials.

“Incidents of COVID-19 have declined, but not only that, (also) the suffering and morbidity and losses to families.”

There have been 84 deaths at Phoebe and 24 deaths in Americus during the roughly eight weeks of the crisis.

As businesses re-open, the city and county governments are looking to work with them and will be posting online a list of the state’s guidelines that must be met for various types of businesses.

“People have to make a decision at this point in time of whether you are going out to eat at a restaurant,” Albany Mayor Bo Dorough said. “If you make the decision to visit, please comply with all rules and regulations that have been issued. We have to comply with these guidelines, and please continue to support local businesses. Bear with us, we’re trying to work through this together.”

Separately on Tuesday, Gov. Brian Kemp visited Phoebe’s north campus on Palmyra road to tour the hospital unit set up at the location by the state.

The Georgia Emergency Management Agency oversaw the project to build the 24-bed modular hospital unit to increase the capacity to care for COVID-19 patients using shipping containers. The unit is expected to be ready to accept patients on Wednesday.

“These are today’s heroes, and I know Georgians appreciate that,” Kemp said during the tour. “I know that I do. My wife Marty and my family does as well, because we know how hard this has been on everybody, no matter what part of the state you’re in. It’s certainly been harder than most right here in Albany and southwest Georgia.”

Special Photo: Phoebe