Source: South Georgia Medical Center

VALDOSTA – In nearly three weeks, Lowndes County has more than tripled its number of COVID-19 cases during the month of June.

Twenty-eight more cases of COVID-19 were confirmed Monday in Lowndes, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health daily status report.

The county has reported a total of 939 cases since the start of the outbreak, according to the report.

Total COVID-19 cases in Lowndes have increased 306% since June 1, according to the The Valdosta Daily Times COVID-19 database.

Despite continually rising case numbers, hospitalizations in Lowndes have only gone up 40%, a drastically smaller percentage than the new case rate.

The latest business to shut down temporarily from a positive COVID-19 diagnosis is the Perimeter branch of Southeastern Credit Union. According to a Monday statement, an employee tested positive for the coronavirus and the branch will close temporarily to “thoroughly clean” the location.

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.

In the South Health District, 9,242 COVID-19 tests have been performed throughout its 10 counties, according to the Monday update of the district COVID-19 website.

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

The additional information should not be confused with the hospitalization numbers published daily by South Georgia Medical Center. Not all SGMC patients are Lowndes County residents and some patients who have been transferred from other regional hospitals have tested positive for COVID-19, according to past reports.

SGMC was treating 24 confirmed COVID-19 patients, according to its Monday daily report.

The hospital had discharged 119 COVID-19 patients and had two patients waiting for testing results, according to the report. 

SGMC has experienced 17 patient deaths since the outbreak of the virus. Only two patients have died from COVID-19 at the hospital in June. 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 5:02 p.m. June 22.