Gwinnett County reports over 10,000 COVID-19 cases since pandemic's start

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. - Gwinnett County has reported more than 10,000 total confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, according to new data from state health officials.

As of 3 p.m. Wednesday, the Georgia Department of Public Health reported Gwinnett County has confirmed 10,237 positive COVID-19 cases since the pandemic began, an increase of 265 cases in the past 24 hours.

In total, the state has reported 103,890 cases of the virus, with an increase of 3,420 cases since Tuesday's report. That's the second-highest increase since the pandemic started.

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Gwinnett County has reported the most number of cases during the pandemic, the GDPH reported. For the rest of the metro Atlanta area, the GDPH reported 9,358 cases in Fulton County, 7,362 in DeKalb County, and 6,255 in Cobb County.

The GDPH reported 1,172,267 have been conducted, with over 1 million of those being the viral or "swab" tests. Since Tuesday, 21,795 new tests have been added.

The percentage of positive tests also increased again by a two-tenths of a percent. The GDPH reports 9.5 percent of all "swab" tests came back positive. The overall percentage increased to 8.9 percent.

The total number of hospitalizations since the pandemic started in Georgia as of Wednesday was at 12,500 with 2,502 ICU admissions, an increase of 274 and 31 respectively in the last 24 hours, the GDPH reports.

The new numbers in metro Atlanta come on the same day Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced that she was going to sign an executive order mandating the wearing of masks in the city. Other cities, including Savannah, East Point, and Athens have already passed ordinances or say they are planning to pass orders requiring masks in public spaces.

“Other cities have taken the approach that they are going to defy the governor’s executive order. Savannah has done it, some other cities have done it, and Atlanta is going to do it today,” Bottoms told MSNBC in a Wednesday interview. “Because the fact of the matter is that COVID-19 is wreaking havoc on our cities, specifically black and brown communities with higher death rates.”

Kemp on Tuesday asked mayors and county commissioners to help him in a statewide push for voluntary masking.

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“We don’t need a mandate to have Georgians do the right thing, but we do need to build strong, public support,” Kemp told mayors, according to prepared remarks released by his office.

This week, the governor launched the Georgia Safety Promise, a safety campaign "to remind Georgia businesses and the public of the importance of following COVID-19 safety guidelines by agreeing to simple - yet critical - measures that help protect Georgians from COVID-19, minimize spread of the virus, and keep Georgia open for business."

“As we continue to fight COVID-19, we want to ensure Georgia businesses and the public are abiding by public health guidance in order to keep Georgia healthy and open for business,” said Governor Kemp. “The Georgia Safety Promise is a pledge between business owners and the public to join together to maintain a safe environment following Georgia Department of Public Health and CDC guidelines. By working together, we can continue to protect the lives and livelihoods of all Georgians.”

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Best prevention measures:

• Wash your hands often with soap and warm water for at least twenty seconds.

• If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.

• Avoid close contact with people who are sick.

• Stay home when you are sick.

• Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.

• Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces

RESOURCES:

• Symptoms, testing and how to prepare amid growing COVID-19 outbreak

• Who is most susceptible to coronavirus? COVID-19 not just affecting older people