Source: South Georgia Medical Center

VALDOSTA – An eighth Lowndes resident has succumbed to COVID-19.

The newest death is a 76-year-old woman who had underlying health conditions and was hospitalized, according to the South Health District.

Eight coronavirus deaths have been confirmed in Lowndes County since the start of the outbreak, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health daily status report. The woman’s passing marks the fourth death this week.

After breaking 1,000 local COVID-19 cases, 23 more cases were confirmed in Lowndes Thursday, according to the GDPH report.

The county has reported a total of 1,040 cases since the start of the outbreak, according to the report.

Total COVID-19 cases in Lowndes have increased 339% since June 1, according to The Valdosta Daily Times COVID-19 database.

As of Wednesday, the slight majority of confirmed and presumptive coronavirus cases in the county, 30.92%, have been in the younger age range of 11-24, according to South Health District records obtained by The Valdosta Daily Times. Cases of patients 55 years or older account for 18.83% in Lowndes.

Compared to testing data from the district, the June jump in cases remains disproportionally higher than the district’s 227% hike in testing during the same period, indicating a possible higher rate of positive tests.

Despite continually rising case numbers, hospitalizations in Lowndes have only gone up 52%, a drastically smaller percentage than the new case rate.

A study published last week out of China found that COVID-19 antibodies steeply declined for 90% of its subjects – both symptomatic and asymptomatic patients – after only 2-3 months. Additionally, 40% of the asymptomatic group tested negative for COVID-19 antibodies merely eight weeks after leaving isolation.

The district eclipsed 10,000 COVID-19 tests performed Thursday; 10,407 coronavirus tests have been performed throughout its 10 counties, according to the Thursday update of the district COVID-19 website.

COVID-19 cases across the district have revealed different demographics than Lowndes. The 35-54 age bracket has the highest percentage, 28.14%, contracted the virus, according to the district.

The GDPH publishes the number of hospitalizations of each county’s residents. Seventy-nine 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 31 confirmed COVID-19 patients, according to its Thursday daily report.

The hospital had discharged 130 COVID-19 patients and had two patients waiting for testing results, according to the report. 

SGMC experienced coronavirus deaths in three consecutive days, adding one more death Thursday. A total to 21 SGMC patients have died since the outbreak of the virus. Six 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 3:32 p.m. June 26.