[Correction: an earlier version of this article stated that a rate per 918 cases per 100,000 of population is 9.18 the threshold for high community transmission. While cases are reported in 14-day blocks the transmission category is calculated using 7-day blocks, so the multiple would be roughly half the 9.18, depending on the numbers for the week in question. We regret the error and my thanks to the eagle-eyed reader on social media who noticed it]

The case rate per 100,000 of population among school-aged children in the kindergarten through 12th grade age range exceeds Cobb’s overall rate, and not by a small number.

The latest figures in the School-Aged COVID-19 Surveillance Report from the Georgia Department of Public Health shows a 14-day rate of cases per 100,000 for children 5-17 years old as 918. For comparison, the Cobb & Douglas Public Health website pegs the overall rate in Cobb County as 779.

The figures were released on August 27, and are updated weekly.

Here are the figures.

Statewide increase in emergency room visits and hospitalization

Meanwhile, the hospitalization of children in on a statewide basis has taken a sharp rise.

Here are two charts from the Georgia Department of Health website showing the jump in emergency room visits and hospitalizations among children on a statewide basis.

In a message to the Cobb community last week, Dr. Janet Memark, District Health Director for Cobb & Douglas Public Health expressed alarm at the increase in the number of children infected with the virus.

“In children 5-17 years-old, there has been a 60% increase in cases since last week, and we have seen numbers double for children aged 11-17,” she wrote. “The number of cases and outbreaks reported in schools is also very high.”