Source: South Georgia Medical Center

VALDOSTA – Another Lowndes County resident has died of COVID-19. 

The resident was a 78-year-old man who had been hospitalized, according to the South Health District. It was unknown if he had underlying health conditions as of Saturday afternoon.

Lowndes County deaths from the virus now total 18, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health daily status report, but that does not include out-of-county patients.

Additionally, 20 more COVID-19 cases were confirmed Saturday in Lowndes County, according to the GDPH report.

The county has reported a total of 1,830 cases since the start of the outbreak, according to the report. 

The overall number of COVID-19 patients being treated at South Georgia Medical Center fell by eight Saturday. It is the first decline in hospitalizations in a week, after coronavirus patients at the hospital spiked from 40 Monday to 69 Friday, according to the hospital’s daily report.

As of Saturday, 105 Lowndes residents have been hospitalized due to COVID-19, since the start of the outbreak, according to the report.

The South Health District has performed 14,786 coronavirus tests throughout its 10 counties Saturday, according to the district COVID-19 website.

SGMC had discharged 222 COVID-19 patients and had one patient waiting for testing results, according to the report. 

Thirty-six SGMC patients have died since the outbreak of the virus. 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 4 p.m. July 11.