Gwinnett County health officials said this week the county is seeing progress in its fight against the coronavirus as the rate of cases decline and long waits for test results improve.
Gwinnett, Georgia’s second-largest county, topped all others in the state of Georgia for total COVID-19 cases for several weeks in June and July. On July 2, U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams visited, calling on citizens to wear masks.
Soon after, Gov. Brian Kemp asked the federal government for more testing resources for the county. A federal task force also provided advice to the health department about how to slow the spread of the virus.
Health officials say steps taken since then have brought the county’s numbers down. According to data from the state Department of Public Health (DPH), Gwinnett reported about a 14% decline in new cases for the 14 days that ended Tuesday, compared to the previous 14-day period.
At the end of July, Fulton returned to the top spot. By Aug. 19, 21,936 cases had been confirmed in Gwinnett and 22,484 in Fulton County.
Gwinnett is third in total deaths as of Thursday with 295.
Several metro Atlanta counties have seen improvements since the state saw its peak of newly reported virus cases July 24.
Though cases and hospitalizations in Georgia have declined from their peak, President Trump’s coronavirus task force called out the state of Georgia for having the highest rate of new infections in the nation in a report dated Aug. 16. That report urged Georgia to do more to curb the spread of the virus.
Nearly every county in Georgia, including Gwinnett, reports the virus is spreading at a rate greater than 100 new cases per 100,000 people over a 14-day period. That’s the threshold to be considered areas of substantial spread by Georgia DPH.
Gwinnett’s rate is more than three times that level.
In addition to the declining case numbers, test results are being given to patients more quickly, allowing them to start quarantining earlier and helping health officials contact others potentially exposed, said Dr. Audrey Arona, director of the Gwinnett, Newton and Rockdale County Health Departments.
“Before, when we were even able to find contacts, the 14-day quarantine period was just about over,” Arona said. “At this point, we’re able to identify more people sooner
“We all know the strategies we’ve been pushing out work: wearing masks, social distancing, washing your hands,” Arona said. “We have been relentless in getting this messaging out.”
She also credited the reduction in cases to partnerships with cities and interest groups, including those representing some immigrant communities. They have helped spread the word about steps you can take to prevent getting the disease and what you should do if you get sick, Arona said.
“They have all jumped on board so we have a unified voice,” Arona said.
The health department has worked with local groups including the NAACP, Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and Korean-American Restaurant Association to get testing to vulnerable communities and ensure information is delivered in languages including Spanish and Korean.
The Georgia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce worked closely with Arona to create a Spanish-language PSA that’s currently airing on Telemundo, said Antonio Molina, the chamber’s chairman-elect. It’s important for information about preventing the spread of COVID-19 to be easily accessible to Spanish speakers in Gwinnett and beyond, Molina said, especially because many are essential workers or live in multigenerational homes.
“We continue to make sure we are disseminating any and all information coming from the Department of Health, and we continue to work with businesses and employees so they know the importance of wearing a face mask in the reduction of spread of the disease,“ Molina said. “We’re using every asset we have at our disposal to provide vital information to our members and our community.”
Last month, testing in Gwinnett was regularly at capacity, and getting an appointment often proved difficult. Patients who got tested sometimes waited up to two weeks to get results, hampering the health department’s contact tracing efforts.
New lab resources have cut the average wait time for test results in Gwinnett to between 24 and 48 hours, Arona said. A partnership with non-profit COVID-19 response group CORE has allowed mobile testing units to reach more people across the county, especially those who may not have a car to access drive-thru test sites. CORE, backed by actor Sean Penn, also has a contract with Fulton County.
Since a peak in late June and early July, cases for the entire three-county Gwinnett, Newton and Rockdale health district have declined steadily. That’s slightly ahead of a dip in statewide numbers, which saw the highest daily number of confirmed cases on July 24. Both Gwinnett and Georgia have seen decreases in daily case numbers, emergency room admissions and positivity rates over the past two weeks, Arona said.
Positivity rates are the number of people who test positive out of the overall number of people tested and is considered a key indicator of how far the virus is spreading. Health officials consider a rate between 5 and 10% to be moderate, and over 10% is considered high.
Gwinnett and Georgia have both reached a “moderate” level of positivity rates, down from a “high” designation in recent weeks. Gwinnett went from 11.8% positivity two weeks ago to 9.3% this week. Georgia overall went from 11% last week to 9.8% this week, Arona said.
Despite a decrease in key variables, a White House report leaked to the AJC recommended measures including a statewide mask mandate and the shuttering of bars and gyms in the highest risk counties — steps that Kemp has not taken in his executive orders related to the pandemic.
“Georgia’s small gains are fragile and statewide progress will require continued, expanded, and stronger mitigation efforts, including in all open schools,” according to the report from the White House Coronavirus Task Force.
About the Author
