Source: South Georgia Medical Center

VALDOSTA – For the fourth-consecutive day, a Lowndes County resident has died due to COVID-19.

Nine 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 death Friday marks the fifth one this week.

Lowndes added 47 more cases Friday, according to the GDPH report.

The county has reported a total of 1,087 cases since the start of the outbreak, according to the report.

Total COVID-19 cases in Lowndes have increased 354% 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 235% 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 65%, a much smaller percentage than the new case rate.

The South Health District has performed 10,798 coronavirus tests throughout its 10 counties, according to the Friday 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. Seven more Lowndes residents were hospitalized Friday due to COVID-19, bringing the total to 86 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 28 confirmed COVID-19 patients, according to its Friday daily report.

The hospital had discharged 135 COVID-19 patients and had zero patients waiting for testing results, according to the report. 

SGMC experienced coronavirus deaths in four consecutive days, adding one more death Friday. A total to 22 SGMC patients have died since the outbreak of the virus. Seven 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.