ByBlair Caldwell|April 17, 2020 at 2:01 PM EDT - Updated April 17 at 5:30 PM
CHATHAM COUNTY, Ga. (WTOC) - Medical professionals expect Georgia’s peak for coronavirus to come on May 1. Dr. Lawton Davis, director of the Coastal Health District, says that may be true, but the virus will tell us that itself.
He also says just because we reach the height of the virus, that doesn’t mean it’s over.
“I want to remind you that when we get to the top of the curve, to the peak, that doesn’t mean it’s over. When we get to the peak, we’ve got to come down the other side and it’s going to take as long to come down to the other side as it did to get there,” Dr. Davis said.
Taking a close look at the positive cases in Chatham County, Dr. Davis explained to Chatham County Commission that there’s an equal infection rate for African-Americans and Caucasians, but slightly more women are impacted then men.
As far as the age of those testing positive for COVID-19, a range from two years old to 91, with the most common age group being 35-70. While some want to see a specific map of where cases are, Dr Davis says it’s all over.
“I can tell you that in Chatham County, it just looks like pew- a shotgun blast. It’s pretty well everywhere. We’ve got it in the Pooler/Bloomingdale area. We’ve got it in Tybee and Wilmington, Whitemarsh area, southside, downtown, Ogeechee, we got it everywhere,” Dr. Davis said.
The health department has been able to expand testing and get results faster. While they are preparing for the worst case scenario, Dr. Davis says it’s not time to stop what we’re doing.
“I personally don’t think it’s time to take the foot off the gas, as people are saying. The best thing we can see if you are practicing strict social distancing is that nothing much happens, things slow down, that’s what you want to see that doesn’t mean it’s time to stop, that means what you’re doing is working,” Dr. Davis said.
He stood before county commission recommending continuing social distancing and to practice good hygiene; as we still wait to see what is to come.
The Coastal Health District has established a new call center at 1-912-230-9744 to screen individuals for COVID-19 testing. The center will take calls Mon - Fri, 8 a.m. - 7 p.m., and Sat., 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m. This is part of a statewide expansion of COVID-19 testing by the Ga. Department of Public Health.
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