A tragedy of the worst kind struck a Georgia family earlier this month, offering a harsh reminder of how the resurgence of COVID-19 is putting young people at risk.

A 5-year-old boy from North Georgia, Wyatt Gibson, died July 16 at a hospital in Chattanooga after being diagnosed with COVID-19, according to his godmother, Amanda Summey, who spoke on behalf of his parents.

“In a way, I know that you’re still here, but I miss you so damn much!” his father, Wes Gibson, wrote on Facebook. “I have lost my best friend.”

The boy’s death came amid a surge of coronavirus cases and hospitalizations around the world, much of it driven by the highly contagious delta variant that’s quickly spreading among the unvaccinated. No vaccines are authorized for children under 12.

COVID is often milder in children compared to adults. But it does occasionally require kids to be hospitalized and, in rare cases, is fatal. Of the more than 18,600 people who have succumbed to it in Georgia, only 11 were children, state Department of Public Health records show.

The worldwide surge began hitting the state this month. Hospitalizations for COVID in Georgia increased by 40% from July 14 to July 21, according to DPH data. In that same time period, the 7-day-rolling average of probable and confirmed coronavirus cases went up 55%, from 975 to 1,512, while confirmed and probable deaths reported rose from 9 to 26.

Here is a look at major COVID-19 developments over the past week.

Credit: Handout

Credit: Handout

Georgia 5-year-old dies after contracting COVID

Wyatt Gibson waved at strangers in the grocery store because he knew it made them happy. He enjoyed building things with Legos, visiting the Tennessee Aquarium and helping take care of the horses on his family’s farm in Calhoun.

He was also a healthy child with no underlying health conditions before he got sick, Summey, his godmother, said. The family initially thought he had food poisoning, his maternal grandmother, Andrea Mitchell, said in a written statement.

“A day, two. No appetite, a little vomiting, a bit lethargic,” Mitchell wrote. “He’d barely had more than the sniffle or two as prior illnesses go. Then the white tongue. Alarmed, he was hustled off to the local hospital. Then the next day to T.C. Thompson Children’s Hospital in Chattanooga.”

Wyatt was diagnosed with strep and staph infections and COVID-19, Mitchell said.

Wyatt’s father, Wes Gibson, and his infant sister, Alyssa, also have tested positive for COVID-19, said Summey.

The family declined to publicly disclose the parents’ vaccination status.

Credit: Ben Gray / Ben@BenGray.com

Another COVID surge looms in Georgia

In Gordon County, where Wyatt lived, just 29% of the population is fully vaccinated, compared to 40% statewide, according to DPH.

Such disappointing vaccination statistics are what’s driving the surge in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations around the world, experts say, and making the disease more likely to reach children such as Wyatt.

According to DPH figures released early last week, of the 480 Georgia patients hospitalized with COVID-19 so far in July, 416 were not fully vaccinated. As of Friday, just 44.9% of Georgians over 12 were fully vaccinated.

Emory University Professor Carlos del Rio said in a briefing Monday that younger people too often are bearing the brunt of the new cases.

“We did a very good job vaccinating those over 65. And, therefore, they’re not getting infected — or they’re getting infected, but they’re not getting sick,” del Rio said. The young, however, “are now getting admitted to the hospital, getting admitted to the ICU, and they’re dying,” he said.

Credit: Curtis Compton / Curtis.Compton@ajc.com

Atlanta Public Schools to require masks

Atlanta Public Schools said Thursday it will mandate masks for all students and employees in district buildings for the start of the upcoming school year, which begins Aug. 5.

Across the metro area, masks will be required by APS, Clayton County and the DeKalb County school districts. In other districts — Cobb County, Marietta City schools and Gwinnett County — masks are optional.

Fulton County Schools lifted its mask mandate on June 1, though the district will require masks on buses.

Credit: Eric Stirgus / Eric.Stirgus@ajc.com

Private colleges push for students to get vaccinated

Morehouse College and other members of the Atlanta University Center announced in April that they are requiring students get the COVID-19 vaccine to return to campus this fall.

Emory, Georgia’s largest private university, is also mandating COVID-19 student vaccinations. Almost 600 colleges and universities nationally are requiring vaccines for at least some students or employees, according to information compiled by the Chronicle of Higher Education. At the same time, a handful of states have passed laws to prevent colleges from mandating vaccinations.

In Georgia, Gov. Brian Kemp banned vaccine mandates in state government, meaning that no local school board or public university can require vaccinations for students or staffers.

Credit: Publicity photos

Georgia film business bounces back

The Georgia film and TV business quickly shook off the pandemic, generating a record-setting $4 billion in direct spending in the last fiscal year, according to the Georgia Department of Economic Development.

The film business was effectively shut down for nearly one-third of fiscal year 2020. Production gradually began to come back last summer and into the fall. With other cities such as Los Angeles and New York slower to reopen than Georgia, demand for studios in Georgia skyrocketed.

Among the productions that have been shot here in the past 12 months are mainstays such as AMC’s “The Walking Dead,” Netflix’s “Ozark” and Fox’s “The Resident,” as well as new productions such as “Shazam! Fury of the Gods,” a remake of “Father of the Bride” starring Andy Garcia and HBO apocalyptic drama “DMZ” starring Rosario Dawson.

Staff writers Vanessa McCray, Eric Stirgus and Rodney Ho and AJC Data Reporter John Perry contributed to this article.

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