Almost 60% of all new COVID-19 outbreaks are now in Georgia’s K-12 schools, the state’s top epidemiologist said Tuesday.
Cherie Drenzek, state epidemiologist for the Georgia Department of Public Health, said the highly contagious delta variant is responsible for the surge.
“The delta variant began spreading in Georgia around July 4,” Drenzek told a virtual meeting of the state’s Board of Public Health. “There has been an exponential increase in cases, hospitalizations and deaths over the last 60 days.”
Image: Georgia Department of Public Health
According to Monday’s COVID totals provided by the state Department of Public Health, more than 1.1 million Georgians have contracted coronavirus since the pandemic began in March 2020. A total of 20,705 Georgians have died, and there have been more than 76,000 hospitalizations.
According to data provided by Drenzek to the board, there has been a 20-fold increase in cases; a 13-fold increase in hospitalizations; and a 17-fold increase in COVID deaths since July 1.
However, both Gov. Brian Kemp’s office and Drenzek said state data has begun to show slight decreases over the last seven days.
Dr. R. Chris Rustin, director of the department’s Division of Health Protection, said as of Tuesday, more than 10 million vaccine doses have been administered in Georgia, with 4.7 million Georgians, or 45% of the state’s population, being fully vaccinated. About 5.4 million of the state’s residents, or 53%, have received at least one vaccine dose.
Rustin also said Georgia is offering 136 sites for monoclonal antibody treatments, commonly known as Regeneron infusion.
Rustin said preliminary data shows monoclonal antibody therapy is effective mostly early in treatment.
“You have to get it early on,” Rustin said, who added the state Department of Public Health is collaborating with the Department of Community Health to support the existing sites across the state.
“It’s important to stress this is not a substitute for vaccines,” Rustin said.
The treatment, according to the Southeast Georgia Health System, helps the immune system stop COVID-19 from spreading in people with mild to moderate symptoms. The antibodies are synthetic proteins that are manufactured in a lab.
The therapy, according to the health system, isn’t new; doctors have long used this treatment to deliver drugs or radioactive substances directly to cancer cells.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given monoclonal antibody therapy emergency use authorization for the treatment of COVID-19.
According to the FDA, clinical trials showed that COVID-19 patients who received antibody infusions had a significant reduction in hospitalizations and deaths compared to patients who received a placebo.
Florida is one state that has launched a statewide initiative that offers the treatment at 21 sites. While Georgia offers the treatment at far more sites than its Sunshine State neighbor, it seemingly has no plans to sponsor a statewide program.
When asked by Capitol Beat if Gov. Brian Kemp has any plans for such an initiative, the governor’s office referred to Kemp’s Aug. 24, 2021, authorization of 105 Georgia National Guard personnel to 10 hospitals around the state.
“This Georgia National Guard mission is in addition to the 2,800 state-supported staff and 450 new beds brought online, at a total state investment of $625 million through December of this year,” Kemp said.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – A top state public health official told a House of Representatives study committee on Monday that Georgia should require a full clearance inspection after a lead abatement inspection.
Currently, according to Christy Kuriatnyk, director of the Georgia Healthy Homes and Lead Poisoning Prevention Program, all that’s required is a visual inspection.
“You can’t see lead dust,” Kuriatnyk told the House study committee on childhood lead exposure.
Kuriatnyk also recommended the state should increase the length of time a landlord must submit a lead abatement plan from 14 to 30 days; and require landlords to submit a letter the property will no longer be used as a dwelling, if that is the intent.
Another recommendation: if a landlord does not disclose a home has the potential for lead hazards and such hazards are found, then tenants can void their lease.
“We are making recommendations that keep pace with science,” Kuriatnyk said.
Lead abatement, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, is designed to eliminate lead-based paint hazards. Abatement is sometimes ordered by a state or local government, and can involve specialized techniques not typical of most residential contractors.
The committee was formed via a special Georgia General Assembly resolution. Rep. Katie Dempsey (R-Rome) chairs the committee, which was designed to study early intervention and prevention of childhood lead exposure. According to the legislature, lead paint is present in one-third of the nation’s homes, particularly older residences.
Monday’s meeting was the second held by the committee, the first being Sept. 2. At that meeting, Dempsey said the committee was created to study the impact of lead in children’s bloodstreams.
“In 2012, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its lead recommendations, and Georgia has not updated” its standards, Dempsey said earlier this month.
This story available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
President Joe Biden’s approval rating in Georgia – nationally regarded as one of several key swing states in the 2022 midterm election and the presidential race in 2024 – is declining, according to a new survey.
A Civiqs survey released last week show 53% of Georgia voters disapprove of the job Biden is doing as president, compared to 40% who do approve and 7% nether approving nor disapproving.
Nationally, 50% of voters disapprove of the job Biden is doing as president, while just 42% approve, and 8% neither approving nor disapproving.
Civiqs surveyed 1,271 registered voters from Aug. 28-31, 2021. The survey was conducted online, among selected members of the Civiqs research panel. Sampled individuals were emailed by Civiqs and responded using a personalized link to the survey at civiqs.com.
The survey results were weighted by age, race, gender, education, party identification, and region to be representative of the population of registered voters in the United States. The survey has a margin of error of plus/minus 2.8%.
Biden also has a disapproval rating of 10 points or more in four other key swing states – Florida, Arizona, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. In 2020, Biden won Georgia, Arizona and Pennsylvania on his way to a White House victory, and narrowly lost Florida and North Carolina.
“President Biden has not been successful at improving his standing among non-Democrats,” a Civiqs analysis of the survey said. “Just 13% of Independents and 2% of Republicans have a better opinion of Biden now than when he took office.
“Nearly half (47%) of Americans say that their opinion of President Biden has gotten worse since he took office in January,” the analysis said. “Among those are many core or potential Biden supporters, including 12% of Democrats and 51% of Independents. Most Democrats (52%) say that their opinion of Biden is unchanged since January, although 35% have an improved opinion of Biden.
“Biden has also struggled to win over young voters. Only 9% of voters aged 18-34 say that their opinion of Biden has gotten better since he took office. In contrast, 27% of voters aged 65 or older have an improved opinion of President Biden this year.”
Some observers believe Biden’s declining approval rating is attributable to his withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan and the Taliban’s subsequent rapid takeover, the analysis said. “However, the change in Biden’s approval rating has been gradual, not sudden.
“Even now, 52% of Americans approve of withdrawing troops from Afghanistan, versus only 35% who disapprove, a finding that is consistent across many other public opinion polls,” the analysis said.
“None of Biden’s flagship policies appear to have overwhelming disapproval, but most Americans do not feel that the efforts of the Biden administration have benefited them personally,” it said. “It is possible that Biden is not doing enough or is not addressing Americans’ most important problems. It is also possible that in a time of ongoing crises, President Biden’s job approval rating would be even lower if not for the relative popularity of his policy initiatives. As it stands, President Biden is losing popular support, and to the extent that voters approve of his policy positions, it has not been enough to stop or reverse that trend.”
This story available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – The war of words between President Joe Biden and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp over new White House COVID mandates continued Friday afternoon, with Kemp accusing the administration of playing “pandemic politics.”
“Look, the public already doesn’t trust the federal government because of the mixed messages about the coronavirus,” Kemp told Capitol Beat. “This is pandemic politics from a president who promised to unite the country, but instead is dividing us.”
On Thursday, the Biden White House issued a new, six-pronged series of COVID mandates, including a requirement for all employers with more than 100 workers to mandate either vaccinations or weekly tests.
“This is the wrong way to go,” Kemp said. “Small business owners already don’t have enough people in the workforce, and now they’re being asked to be the vaccine police.”
Earlier Friday, Biden responded to ABC News when asked about threats to challenge his vaccine measures in court.
“Have at it,” the president said. “Look, I am so disappointed that, particularly some of the Republican governors, have been so cavalier with the health of these kids, so cavalier of the health of their communities. We’re playing for real here. This isn’t a game.
“It’s the president who’s being cavalier about the virus,” Kemp responded. “We’re allowing our local school superintendents to determine what is best for their kids. How in the world can President Biden figure out what is best for our local schools?”
“I don’t know of any scientist out there in this field who doesn’t think it makes considerable sense to do the six things I’ve suggested,” Biden said. “We’ve got to come together. … The vast majority of the American people know we have to do these things.”
Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan also criticized the president’s plan, saying the new mandates “only served to harden the partisan lines around an issue that requires all of us working together and not against one another. I believe the vaccine is safe, effective and the only real way out of this awful pandemic, but mandates have not and will not be the answer, as President Biden has previously stated before reversing course.
“Forcing hard-working Americans to choose between mandated personal health decisions and a paycheck will neither reduce vaccine hesitancy nor move this country in a positive direction,” Duncan added.
Georgia Democrats and Republicans also weighed in Friday on the debate over COVID-19 mandates.
“With Georgians dying and our state’s hospitals overwhelmed from COVID-19, Kemp is fighting everyone and everything except the virus,” said Rebecca Galanti, spokeswoman for the Democratic Party of Georgia. “Between banning local governments from trying to slow COVID-19 spread and picking public fights with the federal government, Kemp is putting his own politics ahead of saving Georgians’ lives.”
The Georgia Senate Republican Caucus issued a statement saying its members have worked “to ensure that vaccines are easily available to everyone who chooses to get the shot. We have encouraged unvaccinated individuals to take this virus seriously and make their health-care decisions in consultation with their doctor. Our approach has struck the appropriate balance between government responsiveness and personal responsibility.
“President Biden’s one-size-fits-all mandates are widely overreaching and exceed the bounds of his authority,” the caucus said. “They may also set a dangerous precedent for federal executive action beyond the issue of COVID-19.”
On Friday, the latest numbers from the state Department of Public Health showed 1.15 million Georgians have contracted coronavirus since the pandemic began in March 2020, with more than 20,580 deaths and 75,928 hospitalizations.
Kemp has long maintained that Georgia will not lock down again or impose statewide mask mandates. Biden’s new directives didn’t change his mind.
“I will pursue every legal option available to the state of Georgia to stop this blatantly unlawful overreach by the Biden administration,” Kemp posted on his Twitter account.
Speaking from the White House Thursday, Biden said the estimated 80 million Americans who have not been vaccinated have made COVID-19 “a pandemic of the unvaccinated.
“And it’s caused by the fact that despite America having an unprecedented and successful vaccination program, despite the fact that for almost five months free vaccines have been available in 80,000 different locations, we still have nearly 80 million Americans who have failed to get the shot.”
This story available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
Gov. Brian Kemp is vowing to fight President Joe Biden’s newly announced COVID-19 mandates.
ATLANTA – Gov. Brian Kemp is vowing to fight President Joe Biden’s newly announced COVID-19 mandates, which now include requiring employers with more than 100 workers to mandate either vaccinations or weekly tests.
“I will pursue every legal option available to the state of Georgia to stop this blatantly unlawful overreach by the Biden administration,” Kemp posted on his Twitter account.
Speaking from the White House Thursday, Biden said the estimated 80 million Americans who have not been vaccinated have made COVID-19 “a pandemic of the unvaccinated.
“And it’s caused by the fact that despite America having an unprecedented and successful vaccination program, despite the fact that for almost five months free vaccines have been available in 80,000 different locations, we still have nearly 80 million Americans who have failed to get the shot.”
Biden also took aim at public officials who he said are “actively working to undermine the fight against COVID-19. Instead of encouraging people to get vaccinated and mask up, they’re ordering mobile morgues for the unvaccinated dying from COVID in their communities. This is totally unacceptable.”
Kemp has long maintained that Georgia will not lock down again or impose statewide mask mandates.
“The unvaccinated overcrowd our hospitals, are overrunning the emergency rooms and intensive care units, leaving no room for someone with a heart attack, or pancreatitis, or cancer,” Biden said. “We cannot allow these actions to stand in the way of protecting the large majority of Americans who have done their part and want to get back to life as normal.”
Earlier this week, two Georgia Democratic congressmen – David Scott of Atlanta and Hank Johnson of Stone Mountain – wrote a letter urging Kemp to enact a statewide pause on elective, in-patient surgeries. They also called for Kemp to extend licensing waivers for hospitals and health-care workers who provide critical services beyond the current waivers’ Sept. 19 expiration date.
“Hospital systems are being forced to make difficult decisions about how to care for patients when there aren’t enough resources to go around,” the congressmen said. “Our state is at a critical point in its fight against the pandemic and as elected officials, we must prioritize the health and well-being of our citizens above all other considerations.”
In response, Kemp urged Scott and Johnson to “request the Federal Emergency Management Agency to set a maximum rate for contract health-care workers” and “demand clear guidance from the [federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] and the White House regarding COVID-19 booster shots and their detailed logistical plans to assist states in this enormous undertaking.
“My top priority over the last month has been to ensure hospitals across our state have the necessary resources at their disposal to deliver care to Georgians in need,” Kemp wrote.
The governor said he has directed the state Department of Community Health to increase state-supported hospital staffing from 1,500 to 2,800 and authorized up to 2,500 Georgia National Guard troops to assist hospital systems with non-medical staffing needs.
Biden also is signing an executive order requiring all executive branch federal employees to get vaccinated.
“We’ve been patient, but our patience is wearing thin,” Biden said. “And your refusal has cost all of us.”
In a direct aim at governors who Biden believes have been blocking his COVID measures, Biden said, “My plan also takes on elected officials and states that are undermining you and these lifesaving actions. Right now, local school officials are trying to keep children safe in a pandemic while their governor picks a fight with them and even threatens their salaries or their jobs. If they’ll not help – if these governors won’t help us beat the pandemic, I’ll use my power as president to get them out of the way.”
While Kemp opposes mandates, he has not stood in the way of local school systems in Georgia that wish to require masks.
This story available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
