ATLANTA – Georgia ranked 47th in the nation in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new state scorecard released by the Commonwealth Fund Thursday.
The Commonwealth Fund is a national non-profit that takes left-leaning positions on health care access and quality.
The organization releases state health system scorecards annually. This year, it added seven COVID-related measures to its evaluation.
The states that best managed COVID were Hawaii, Maine, and Vermont. Only Mississippi, Oklahoma, Kentucky, and Alabama ranked worse than Georgia in responding to COVID, according to the new analysis.
According to the new scorecard, only a quarter of adults in Georgia were fully vaccinated and boosted against COVID by the end of March 2022, while the national average was 37%.
Georgia also saw higher rates of “excess deaths” than the U.S. average from February 2020 to April of this year, with 411 excess deaths per 100,000 people, compared to a national average of 345 per 100,000.
The excess death indicator evaluates the actual number of deaths against what is expected based on past trends. That includes COVID-related deaths as well as deaths due to non-COVID reasons.
“The death toll from COVID is high and extends beyond deaths directly attributed to the virus,” the report contends. “Because the pandemic disrupted their ability to get timely care … many more people died sooner than they otherwise would have.”
Those effects were particularly pronounced for Black, indigenous and Latinx people in the first year of the pandemic, Jesse Baumgartner, a research associate at the Commonwealth Fund, said during a press conference.
Georgia had far higher rates of hospitalization for COVID than the national average, with 1,976 confirmed COVID case admissions per 100,000 people from August 2020 to March 2022. In the same period, the national average was 1,443 per 100,000.
The report card also looked at how many days hospital intensive care units were at or above 80% capacity between August 2020 and March 2022.
Georgia ICUs were at least 80% full for 375 days in that period, compared to the national average of just 112 days in the same timeframe.
Georgia fared better than many states on the rates of COVID-related nursing home deaths.
Georgia suffered 89 deaths per 1,000 nursing beds from May 2020 until March 2022. The national average was 94 per 1,000 beds, putting Georgia in 21st place for that measure.
And while the state’s overdose death rates increased during 2020 in line with national trends, Georgia’s rate did not increase as much as in most other Southern states.
“Deaths reached record levels in nearly every state in 2020 … as people dealt with disrupted treatment access and a much more dangerous drug supply increasingly composed of stronger synthetic opioids like fentanyl,” Baumgartner said.
“States that entered the pandemic with stronger health systems fared better,” said Dr. David Blumenthal, president of the Commonwealth Fund. “States need to invest in their health-care infrastructure. Having a strong health-care system is the best preparation for any public health crisis.”
Gov. Brian Kemp’s office disagreed with the report’s conclusions about Georgia’s performance and health system.
“Governor Kemp prioritized protecting lives and livelihoods throughout the pandemic,” said Katie Byrd, a spokeswoman for the governor. “He was responsive to the needs of the medical community, hospital systems, and insight from our Department of Public Health, and he kept keeping Georgians safe the utmost priority.”
Byrd pointed to a 24/7 on-call system to help ensure hospitals and others had what they needed during the pandemic.
“And now, unlike any other state and because of his measured approach, our economy is thriving, and Georgians are enjoying a safe, appropriate return to normalcy,” Byrd said. “It would be inexcusable to suggest that the state didn’t do everything it could to mitigate loss of life from the outset.”
Democratic Party of Georgia spokesman Max Flugrath said Kemp should have responded to the pandemic by expanding the state’s Medicaid program.
“During the uncertainty of a global pandemic, Democrats would have done what Brian Kemp has repeatedly refused to do – expand access to health care for vulnerable Georgians,” Flugrath said. “By expanding Medicaid, Georgia could provide health-care coverage for over 500,000 people, create over 64,000 jobs, and send crucial support to rural hospitals, two of which closed during the pandemic.”
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – Georgia’s unemployment rate fell to an all-time low of 3.1% last month, well below the national jobless rate of 3.6%, the state Department of Labor reported Thursday,
At the same time, the number of jobs rose to a record high of nearly 4.8 million in May, up more than 18,000 from April.
“As the state continues to experience a very tight labor market, as evidenced by our low unemployment rate, our focus has been on encouraging more individuals to re-enter the workforce,” Georgia Commissioner of Labor Mark Butler said Thursday.
“Unless those who have chosen not to work decide they want to re-enter the workforce or more people move into the state, additional workers will be scarce.”
Georgia’s unemployment rate last month was second-lowest among the 10 most populous states, above only Florida’s 3%. Among neighboring states besides Florida, only Alabama’s jobless rate of 2.8% was lower.
The Peach State also posted an all-time high number of employed workers in May with more than 5.1 million. The number of unemployed fell 3,329 to 157,542, the lowest since April 2001.
“We have seen wages increase at an accelerated rate as employers compete for talent in the workplace,” Butler said. “As summer vacations ramp up, and with it more temporary jobs, we will continue to see ‘Please be patient’ signs as employers struggle to fill vacancies.”
The job sectors with the most over-the-month job gains in May included accommodation and food services, which added 5,400 jobs, and arts, entertainment and recreation, which tied with educational services by adding 3,100 jobs. The hospitality, food services and entertainment industries were among the hardest hit during the pandemic.
There are more than 227,000 jobs listed online at EmployGeorgia.com, resulting in a minimum of more than 310,000 unfilled positions.
Industries with more than 10,000 job postings last month included health care with 33,000; manufacturing with 21,000; and retail trade, which tied at 16,000 with finance and insurance as well as accommodation and food services.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – A letter from the chairman of the U.S. House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol dated Wednesday raises concerns about a tour U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk led the day before.
The letter from Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., included still photos of surveillance footage taken that day of Loudermilk, R-Cassville, leading a tour of areas of the Rayburn, Longworth and Cannon House office buildings as well as tunnels leading to the Capitol.
“Individuals on the tour photographed and recorded areas of the complex not typically of interest to tourists, including hallways, staircases, and security checkpoints,” Thompson wrote. “The behavior of these individuals during the January 5, 2021, tour raises concerns about their activity and intent while inside the Capitol complex.”
Thompson’s letter came two days after U.S. Capitol Police Chief Thomas Manger sent a letter to Loudermillk stating a police review of the surveillance footage of the tour showed nothing suspicious.
Loudermilk responded Tuesday on Twitter with the statement, “The truth will always prevail.”
According to Thompson’s letter, the committee has learned that some of those who attended the tour given by Loudermilk attended a rally at the Ellipse the next morning, during which then-President Donald Trump is accused of inflaming the crowd of his supporters to march on the Capitol.
Recordings from Jan. 6 obtained by the committee show a person who appeared to be photographing a staircase in the Longworth House Office Building during Loudermilk’s tour the previous day filmed a companion making threats against specific House Democratic leaders.
The committee asked Loudermilk last month to meet with its members to answer questions about the tour, but the congressman refused.
“We again ask you to meet with the select committee at your earliest convenience,” Thompson wrote.
Loudermilk responded Wednesday by accusing the commitee of targeting him over an issue that already has been resolved.
“The Capitol Police already put this false accusation to bed, yet the committee is undermining the Capitol Police and doubling down on their smear campaign, releasing so-called evidence of a tour of the House office buildings, which I have already publicly addressed,” the congressman wrote on Twitter.
The committee has held two televised public hearings, last Thursday and again on Monday. A third hearing that had been scheduled for Wednesday was postponed until Thursday.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – The Port of Savannah moved an all-time high 519,390 twenty-foot equivalent container units (TEUs) last month, the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) reported Wednesday.
That broke the previous record of 504,350 TEUs set last October and exceeded May of last year by 8.3%.
The additional trade is being driven in part by containerized cargo ships diverting to Savannah from other East Coast and West Coast ports, said Griff Lynch, the ports authority’s executive director.
“Strong consumer demand continues to drive higher volumes at the Port of Savannah,” Lynch said. “The infrastructure improvements and pop-up yards approved by the GPA board have enabled our operations to maintain the flow of cargo across our terminal, despite unprecedented container volumes passing through the port.”
By next month, the ports authority expects to have more than 7 million TEUs of annual capacity at Savannah’s Garden City Terminal, including 900,000 TEUs added recently and another 300,000 set to come online in July.
“By increasing container space at Garden City Terminal, GPA is accommodating the expansion in global commerce that supports job growth in Georgia,” board Chairman Joel Wooten said. “Industries from logistics to auto manufacturing, and agriculture to retail depend on Georgia’s ports for reliable supply chain solutions.”
In addition to containerized cargo, the Port of Savannah’s Ocean Terminal and the Port of Brunswick combined to achieve a 28% increase in breakbulk cargo last month, including iron and steel, rubber, and forest products.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – Mental health concerns and burnout would lead one in three Georgians to quit their jobs, according to a new report released by Georgia CEO and goBeyondProfit.
Georgia CEO is a network of local business-focused websites. goBeyondProfit is a Georgia alliance of business leaders committed to corporate generosity.
The two organizations have teamed for the past four years to survey Georgians about generosity at work. This year, the team surveyed more than 500 employed Georgians using an opt-in survey. Separately, they surveyed around 200 company executives in Georgia.
Georgia employees ranked compensation as the top reason they would leave their company with mental health a close second. Thirty-five percent of the workers surveyed said lack of mental health support and burnout would cause them to quit.
“Mental health support plays a major role in why employees are leaving and what will help them stay,” the report notes.
Mental health support is particularly important to workers under age 35 and to women, the survey showed.
There appears to be a disconnect between employees and executives on the role of mental health in the workplace.
“Mental health support did not show up in executives’ top four choices for how best to demonstrate generosity toward employees,” the report states. “If executives focus entirely on employees’ top request – compensation – without tuning into these underlying health and wellness issues, turnover will likely continue.”
“Whether you, as an employer… want to engage on this issue or not, really, you’re not going to have a choice,” added Shane Jackson, a co-founder of goBeyondProfit and president of Alpharetta-based Jackson Healthcare.
There were 11.4 million job openings in the United States at the end of April, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Jackson said employers should think about increasing flexibility, even for workers in low-wage jobs that traditionally have not been as flexible as white-collar roles.
“I think what people are looking for is someone to actually engage with them as a human being, understand what their needs are, and how they can – within the limits of a certain job – how they can provide that flexibility,” Jackson said.
Jackson gave the example of an employee not showing up for a shift. He said employers should try to understand the underlying reason and show compassion rather than punish or fire the worker.
Jackson said his medical staffing company, which is one of the largest mental health professional providers in the country, is – like everyone else – facing difficulties finding mental health workers to meet the need.
The survey showed that workers tend to trust their companies, which provides employers with an opportunity to help address employee mental health concerns.
“Employers, businesses, companies have a role to play,” Jackson said. “Because the people you work with every day are either struggling with mental health issues, or they are close to someone [who is] … it is endemic and so you have to be prepared for how you’re going to engage.”
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation
