December 16, 2020 Update

Winter Holidays

The safest way to celebrate winter holidays is to celebrate at home with the people who live with you. Staying home is the best way to protect yourself and others.

Travel and gatherings with family and friends who do not live with you can increase your chances of getting or spreading COVID-19 or the flu.

Everyone can make winter holidays safer. To find out tips on how to do so, visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)'s winter holidays page at www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/holidays/winter.html.

Upcoming Food Distribution Sites

Virginia Walker Mobile Food Pantry - Fri., Dec. 18

Friday, December 18, 2020
Miriam Moore Community Service Center
410 McKinley Drive | Athens, GA 30601
12:30-3:30 PM

Questions about this distribution? Call 706-208-0048

Athens Eats Together - Sat., Dec. 19

Saturday, December 19, 2020
Chapelwood United Methodist Church
100 Janice Dr. | Athens, GA 30606
9:00-11:00 AM

Saturday's distribution will be a food box containing produce, dairy, eggs and a roasted chicken.

Questions about this distribution? Call 1-888-420-7798

Athens Habitat for Humanity / Athens Neighborhood Health Center Mobile Testing Clinic

Athens Area Habitat for Humanity / Athens Neighborhood Health Center Mobile COVID Testing Clinic

Athens Area Habitat for Humanity and the Athens Neighborhood Health Center co-sponsor the mobile COVID testing clinic for lower-income residents of our service area who lack insurance or are otherwise unable to access testing.

The clinic is staffed by local health professionals who obtain a painless nasal swab — not a deep nasal passage swab — which is sent to a lab for PCR testing. Results are expected within 3 to 5 days after the test is administered.

Upcoming locations:

Thursday, December 17
Mercy Health Center, 700 Oglethorpe Avenue, Suite C7
1:00-4:00 PM
Friday, December 18
AMC Theater, 1575 Lexington Road
8:00 AM – 12:30 PM
Monday, December 21
7th Day Adventist Church, 422 Epps Bridge Parkway
Time TBA (check website for updates)
Tuesday, December 22
Homewood Hills Shopping Center, 2435 Jefferson Road
8:00 AM – 1:30 PM

For more information, visit www.athenshabitat.com/assistance/mobileclinic.

Georgia Department of Public Health Daily Status Report

Dec. 16 Case Update for Athens-Clarke County

The Wednesday, December 16 update shows an increase of 408 positive cases and 1 death since Wednesday, December 9.

Cumulative case counts from February are no longer being displayed on the graphic. For reference, here are the cumulative numbers from the beginning of each month:

December 1 - 6,732
November 1 - 5,872
October 1 - 5,121
September 1 - 3,082
August 1 - 1,694
July 1 - 574
June 1 - 293
May 1 - 155
April 1 - 54
March 1 - 4

The Daily Status Report is now updated once daily at 3:00 p.m. to allow time to process and validate laboratory and case reports. The Daily Status Report is available at https://dph.georgia.gov/covid-19-daily-status-report.

Positive UGA COVID-19 Tests Reported Through DawgCheck - Week 17 (Dec. 7-13)

The University of Georgia DawgCheck tool gives members of the campus community the ability to self-monitor and to facilitate information sharing internally and with the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH). Any student or employee with a positive COVID-19 test is required to report the test in DawgCheck.

Last Five Weeks of Tests

DawgCheck Reports: Positive COVID-19 Tests by Week

Visit the UGA Health Center Website with these graphs and other updates.

The table above reflects the total number of positive test results reported through DawgCheck each week. It is updated every Wednesday. Please note the following:

Positive tests reported through DawgCheck are from any of the approximately 50,000 faculty, staff, and students connected to the University of Georgia, whether located in Athens, extended campuses, extension offices across the state, or even other states and countries for students who elected to take online classes.
The totals may include reports from individuals who have not been on campus recently, there may be delays in reporting, and the totals may even include individuals who have recovered.
Therefore, the data does not serve as an accurate barometer of the current status of COVID-19 at any point in time at any one of UGA’s campuses.
For the week of December 7, 37% of the tests in the “Other” category were performed in Athens-Clarke and its 5 adjoining counties, and the remaining 63% were located elsewhere in the state. Four students and two employees reported positive tests done outside of the state. Three instructional faculty reported a positive test.

DawgCheck and other University of Georgia-related COVID information is available at the University Health Center website at https://uhs.uga.edu/healthtopics/covid-19-health-and-exposure-updates.

Northeast Health District Weekly Report - December 14

The Georgia Department of Public Health's (DPH) Northeast Health District produces a weekly COVID-19 testing report for the 10-county district that covers Athens-Clarke, Barrow, Elbert, Greene, Jackson, Madison, Morgan, Oconee, Oglethorpe, and Walton counties.

Athens-Clarke County's page of the report is shown in the first of the two charts below, while the second one shows the previous week's report for comparison purposes.

Current and Previous Week's Reports

Northeast Health District County Report - Athens-Clarke County - Dec. 14

Georgia Department of Public Health Northeast Health District Weekly Report

The newest weekly report for Dec. 14 was released on Wed., Dec. 16.

The report includes county-by-county information about:

Total number of PCR tests performed by all providers reported to DPH
Percent of total tested with positive results
Positive cases per 100,000 total population
Cumulative number hospitalized
Percent of positive cases requiring hospitalization
Cumulative deaths
Percent of positive cases who died
Deaths per 100,000 total population
Positive cases by race/ethnicity and age (from tests performed by the Northeast Health District only - does not include other providers)

While reports are dated on Monday and use data for the previous week, the reports will usually be posted on Wednesday due to the time required to assemble and confirm the report.

The report is available each week at: publichealthathens.com/wp/programs/infectious-disease/coronavirus-covid-19-information/athens-district-covid-data/

Frequency of Updates

This coronavirus email / text update is sent weekly during normal weeks, usually on Wednesdays, with other updates as necessary with important information.

Questions can still be directed to www.accgov.com/coronavirus, which will be updated regularly, the info line at 706-613-3333, or coronavirus@accgov.com.