MONTHLY COVID-19 UPDATE FOR DECEMBER 2020

The month of December brought a continuous surge of record-breaking COVID-positive case numbers in Upson and the surrounding counties. Hospitalizations were also on the rise, but death totals remained fairly flat.

Upson County reported 246 new cases in December, the highest single-month total since the beginning of the pandemic. One new death occurred in Upson which broke a 5-week streak of zero deaths. New hospitalizations increased from 7 in November to 12 in December. Average test positivity has been steadily rising in Upson from 5.4% in October, to 8.4% in November, to 13.7% in December.

For the combined area including Upson and its bordering counties, positive cases increased dramatically from 575in November to 1,464 in December, the highest monthly total on record. Monroe County had the highest number of new cases at 356, followed by Upson at 246. Talbot County had the lowest number of new cases at 42.The death toll for all of the counties in November was 12, and it remained 12 in December. Lamar County had the most new deaths at 4. In November there were 3 counties with zero deaths, but Taylor County was the only county that had zero deaths in December.

Average 2-week test positivity increased significantly throughout the area. At the end of November Lamar County was the only county classified in the Red Zone and all of the others were in the Yellow Zone. By the end of December, test positivity rates placed all 8 counties in the Red Zone. (Of the 159 counties in Georgia only one is currently in the Green Zone, and that is Wilcox County near Cordele.)

 

Upson County	New Cases	New Deaths	New Hosp.	Avg 2-wk Test Pos
March 2020	5	0
April 2020	211	18 (hi)
May 2020	65	16
June 2020	74	9	1
July 2020	116	2	9
Aug 2020	190	10	14
Sept 2020	138	7	14
Oct 2020	45 (lo)	9	17	5.4%
Nov 2020	98	0 (lo)	7	8.4%
Dec 2020	246 (hi)	1	12	13.7%
Source: Daily Reports from GA Department of Public Health

DECEMBER 1 – 31, 2020
County	New Cases	New Deaths	Zone
Upson	246	1	Red
Pike	162	2	Red
Lamar	240	4	Red
Monroe	356	2	Red
Crawford	133	1	Red
Taylor	71	0	Red
Talbot	42	1	Red
Meriwether	214	1	Red
Source: Daily Reports from GA Dept of Public Health

8-County Area	New Cases	New Deaths
March 2020	24	0
April 2020	405	28
May 2020	266 (lo)	26
June 2020	351	21
July 2020	864	14
Aug 2020	891	53 (hi)
Sept 2020	494	33
Oct 2020	353	22
Nov 2020	575	12 (lo)
Dec 2020	1,464 (hi)	12 (lo)
8-County Area = Upson, Pike, Lamar, Monroe, Crawford, Taylor, Talbot, and Meriwether
Source: Daily Reports from GA Dept of Public Health