The mask mandates in government buildings and the courts in Cobb County have been lifted, but what is the overall status of the COVID pandemic in the county?

Most of the news is good. The CDC has us classified as in “Moderate” community transmission after we were stuck in “High” for most of last year.

This afternoon the county announced that Board of Commissioners Chairwoman Lisa Cupid has lifted the Declaration of Emergency after meeting with county health officials.

One of the most encouraging signs for Cobb County is that the percentage of patients in hospitals in our region who are there for COVID has dropped to below 10 percent.

While the news is encouraging, the Courier will continue to do these weekday daily reports on COVID until the transmission rate has dropped to “low” and stays there for four weeks.

The numbers in this report were taken from the Georgia Department of Public Health COVID Daily Status Report, from the summary posted on the CDC County View data tracker, and from the Georgia Hospital Bed and Ventilator use report.

Cobb County numbers

The Georgia Department of Public Health displays its COVID statistics based on 14-day blocks.

New cases in Cobb over the past 14 days: 860

14-day case rate per 100,000 of population: 109

Number of Cases in Cobb since the pandemic began: 133,789

Cases per 100,000 of population since the pandemic began: 16,923

Cobb numbers and rate from the CDC County View

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) gets its numbers from the Georgia Department of Public Health, but presents them in 7-day blocks rather than the 14-day blocks presented by the GDPH.

7-day Metrics

Cases	450
Case Rate per 100k	59.20
% Positivity	3.81%
Deaths	24
% of population ≥ 5 years of age fully vaccinated	61.3%
New admissions of confirmed COVID-19 among county residents (estimated)	77

7-day percentage change

Cases	-42.89%
% Positivity	-1.38%
Deaths	4.35%
% of population ≥ 5 years of age fully vaccinated	N/A
New admissions of confirmed COVID-19 among county residents (estimated)	-32.20000000000001%

Statewide numbers

Reported Today 

Confirmed Cases	Antigen Positive Cases	Confirmed Deaths	Hospitalizations
868	542	60	132

Hospital bed and ventilator report

Region N which includes Cherokee, Cobb, Douglas and Paulding counties, has:

1,205 general inpatientbeds in use out of 1,373 total beds, or 87.76%

180 ICU beds in use out of a total of 197 total ICU beds, or 91.37%.

146 ED beds in use out of 296 total beds, or 49.32%

94 ventilators in use out of 196 total ventilators, or 47.96%

9.8% of patients in Region N are classified as COVID-19 patients.

For more information on COVID in Cobb County and statewide

Cobb & Douglas Public Health runs the case rate on their home page, although it is not updated frequently.

Visit the Cobb & Douglas Public Health home page by following this link

A more frequently updated summary of the statistics on COVID for Cobb County is the CDC’s County View page for Cobb County. The numbers come from the Georgia Department of Public Health but are displayed in a much easier-to-read way than the sprawling GDPH website. From this page you can get the one-week figures on the number of new cases, case rate per 100,000 of population, hospitalizations, deaths, and the percentage change from the previous 7-day period. It also includes data on testing and vaccination rates.

Visit the CDC County View page for Cobb County by following this link

The Georgia Department of Public Health publishes a daily status report on the pandemic every afternoon at around 3 p.m. It’s a comprehensive report with extensive data and charts arranged statewide and by county, that also includes age breakdowns, racial demographics, and data on vaccination and testing.

It isn’t the easiest system to navigate, but it’s worth spending time learning how to use if you’re interested in getting the latest statewide and local data on the state of COVID-19.

Visit the Georgia Department of Public Health Daily Status Report by following this link

To get an overview of how much the pandemic is stressing the hospital systems in terms of ER visits, hospital bed capacity, and ventilator use, there is a Hospital Bed and Ventilator Use report with interactive maps. The map is organized by hospital region, and Cobb County is part of Region N.

Visit the Georgia Hospital Beds and Ventilator Report by following this link

To get data on what percentage of patients in Georgia hospitals were admitted for COVID-19 versus all other causes, there is a Georgia Medical Facility Patient Census. It also reports numbers by statewide and hospital region.

Visit the Georgia Medical Facility Patient Census by following this link