Dr. Janet Memark, the District Health Director of Cobb & Douglas Public Health (CDPH) distributed a message in the CDPH newsletter, warning of an “incredible surge” and a record number of hospitalizations in the county.

She wrote the following:

Good afternoon from Cobb & Douglas Public Health!
 
We end this tumultuous 2020 in the midst of an incredible surge of COVID-19 that is testing our hospitals with record numbers of hospitalizations. The Cobb case rate is 633 cases per 100,000 people and Douglas’s is 558 cases/100,000. Remember these case rates do not include antigens, which makes them higher. We are seeing very large numbers of people come through for testing as the COVID-19 virus continues to easily transmit throughout our community.
 
We have a ray of hope with the arrival of COVID-19 vaccines. We have started vaccinations with our healthcare workers and will move to people over 65 years old and public safety on January 11. Please watch our website for the scheduling site that will go live soon for self-scheduling as we prepare for more mass vaccinations. The vaccination process will be an arduous one, as we continue to receive vaccine supplies.
 
On the eve of the new year, we will have much to celebrate, but I urge our citizens to be cautious with festivities tonight. We are in a dangerous phase and have lost too many of our fellow citizens to this virus.
 
Please try not to gather with those outside of your immediate households, wear your masks when in public and maintain your distance from others.
 
We, at Cobb & Douglas Public Health, thank all of you for all of your help in battling COVID-19. We look forward to times when we are all vaccinated and can return to our normal lives. Until then, please be blessed and safe…..Sincerely, 
Janet Pak Memark M.D., M.P.H, F.A.C.P.
District Health Director
District 3-1: Cobb & Douglas Public Health

Highest numbers since the pandemic began

Below Dr. Memark’s comments was the following summary of the state of the pandemic in Cobb:

Reported cases over the last 14 days in Cobb

Cobb: More than 5,000 cases have been reported in Cobb County in the last two weeks, with a 2-week case rate of 633 per 100,000 people (as of 12/30/20). These are the highest rates we have seen since the start of the pandemic. Please remember that anything over 100 cases/100K is considered HIGH community transmission. Also note: this map only includes PCR positives, it does not include the rapid antigen test results, which is at 1,845 cases in the last two weeks.

More information on the pandemic

The daily status report from the Georgia Department of Public Health is posted daily at 3 p.m.

In addition to the total confirmed cases, hospitalization and deaths, the report includes other information such as demographic breakdown by race/ethnicity, sex and age.

You can also download the data in CSV format at this link, so you can open it in a spreadsheet and build different views of the data yourself.

There is also a guide to understanding the data here.

The Georgia Department of Public Health describes the data collection process as follows:

The Daily Status Report is updated once daily at 3 p.m. Data are reported to the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) from numerous labs, hospitals and providers in various ways.

Electronic Laboratory Reports (ELR) are data files transmitted to DPH that contain patient identifiers, test information and results. Individual “case” reports may also be submitted through DPH’s secure web portal, SendSS, from healthcare providers and other required reporters. These reports often contain more specific patient information. In either reporting scenario, data may be incomplete.

Data displayed on the DPH Daily Status Report reflect the information transmitted to DPH, but may not reflect all current tests or cases due to timing of testing and data reporting