Update: In the latest report on Georgia deaths, the Georgia Department of Public Health indicated the Gwinnett County teen had underlying conditions, but no further details are available at this time.
Original story:
A 15-year-old Gwinnett County boy has died after contracting COVID-19, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health.
The teen’s death was listed on the DPH website during the health department’s daily update on Friday afternoon. He is the youngest person to die of COVID-19 complications in metro Atlanta and the second-youngest to die in Georgia.
The Gwinnett County Medical Examiner’s Office did not confirm the death Saturday morning, and there was no information indicating when the teen may have gotten sick or died. A spokeswoman for the Georgia Department of Public Health said no additional details are being released.
The teen’s death was one of 35 reported across the state on Friday.
On Saturday, DPH officials confirmed 96 more deaths, 3,372 new cases and 210 additional hospitalizations. Since the pandemic began, COVID-19 has claimed the lives of at least 4,669 people in Georgia, though some health experts believe the actual death toll is greater.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the state reported consecutive days of triple-digit coronavirus deaths.
Since the pandemic began, officials have confirmed more than 235,000 coronavirus cases in Georgia, though many of those people have since recovered. Gwinnett County has had the second most infections in the state with 21,411 confirmed cases. Only Fulton County has reported more.
In addition, Gwinnett reported four more COVID-related deaths on Saturday, bringing the county’s death toll to 287.
The 15-year-old’s death comes as many Georgia school districts have reopened for in-person learning. In Cherokee County, the number of public school students and teachers placed under quarantine for COVID-19 doubled from last week, with the number of new infections nearly tripling.
As the second week of school came to a close Friday, the district reported 80 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus and said 1,106 students and employees are quarantined as a result.
The first week of school ended with 28 cases and 563 under quarantine in the district of about 40,000 students, AJC.com previously reported. All six Cherokee County high schools are reporting new cases, and two of them — Etowah and Woodstock — have closed as a result of the outbreaks.
So far, the youngest confirmed COVID-19 death in Georgia was a 7-year-old boy from Savannah.
Chatham County officials said the child died about three weeks ago after having a fever-fueled seizure in the bathtub and drowning. He was not believed to have had any pre-existing conditions either.
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