COVID-19 continues the assault | New

The fourth wave of the delta variant of the COVID-19 coronavirus is the worst yet, according to many medical experts.

According to health experts, it is steadily getting worse day by day with no signs of improvement anytime soon.

In order to limit the threat of the disease spreading in Milledgeville, city officials have resumed requiring city employees to wear masks inside all buildings owned by the city. The announcement was made by City Manager Hank Griffeth on Tuesday during a city council working session.

Griffeth also announced that city employees will also resume wearing masks when driving city-owned vehicles.

Locally, city and county officials have come together to create a public service awareness campaign for COVID-19. A PSA video features Milledgeville Mayor Mary Parham-Copelan and Baldwin County Commission Chairman Henry R. Craig highlighting the importance of vaccination in the fight against the virus.

Local authorities are also urging residents to stay away from large crowds, practice social distancing, and wash their hands frequently with lukewarm or hot water to limit germs and the spread of disease.

The disease claims more and more lives every day.

The virus has claimed the lives of nearly 150 people in Milledgeville and Baldwin County since the pandemic was declared in 2020.

This week’s report from the Georgia Department of Public Health, which tracks the outbreak of the disease in the 13 counties that make up the North Central Health District, shows midweek deaths in Baldwin County to amounted to 141.

Some of the takeaways from this week’s DPH report also include the fact that the virus is spreading widely across the 13 counties of the North Central Health District, according to Amber Erickson, director of epidemiology, community assessment and health services. research initiatives for northern DPH. Central health district.

“We’re very close to seeing the same disease rate as our January peak,” Erickson said in his weekly update.

The biggest increase in sick patients is in kindergarten to grade 12 students, she said.

There has also been a sharp increase in the number of school-aged students requiring hospitalization, Erickson said.

As for the number of re-infections, state health officials have said they have no information to release at this time.

“I know this request comes in a lot,” Erickson said, noting that DPH doesn’t have a good way to track this information in the system currently in use. “I can tell you that we are seeing individuals re-infected. “

State health officials are working to develop a better way to track groundbreaking data.

The North Central Health District includes Baldwin, Putnam, Hancock, Wilkinson, Washington, Jones, Bibb, Twiggs, Crawford, Houston, Jasper, Monroe and Peach counties.