Lowndes COVID-19 cases rise by 69 Wednesday

Published 3:45 pm Wednesday, June 17, 2020

Source: The Valdosta Daily Times COVID-19 database

VALDOSTA – Lowndes County experienced its biggest one day jump in COVID-19 cases Wednesday.

Lowndes added 69 more coronavirus cases Tuesday, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health daily status report.

The county has reported a total of 758 cases since the start of the outbreak, according to the report.

The jump comes four days after the previously largest hike of 51 new cases June 13, according to The Valdosta Daily Times COVID-19 database.

Coronavirus deaths in Lowndes have not increased in nearly two months as four residents have died since the outbreak started, according to the health department report.

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In the South Health District, 8,160 COVID-19 tests have been performed throughout its 10 counties, according to the 10 a.m. Wednesday update of the district COVID-19 website.

During Wednesday morning’s meeting of the Hospital Authority of Valdosta and Lowndes County, South Georgia Medical Center CEO Ronnie Dean said the SGMC Smith-Northview drive-through screening station has eclipsed 6,000 people screened or tested.

Last week, 918 people were tested at the station and while 57 results were still pending, 17.2% of those tested were positive for COVID-19, according to Johnny Ball, SGMC vice president of marketing and public affairs.

The GDPH publishes the number of hospitalizations of each county’s residents. Sixty-nine Lowndes residents have been hospitalized due to COVID-19 since the start of the outbreak, according to the report.

SGMC was treating 19 confirmed COVID-19 patients, according to its Wednesday daily report.

The hospital had discharged 103 COVID-19 patients and had four patients waiting for testing results, according to the report. 

Sixteen SGMC patients have died due to the coronavirus, according to the report. Again, not all SGMC patients are Lowndes County residents.

For more data on Lowndes and the surrounding counties, The Valdosta Daily Times has created a database to track COVID-19 across the South Health District.

To reach the database, click the link here.

This story was updated at 10:30 a.m. June 18.