VALDOSTA – Cook County experienced its first COVID-19 death Thursday, according to the South Health District.

The Cook resident was a 77-year-old woman with underlying medical issues, read a district statement. 

Elsewhere in the district, a 91-year-old man from Tift County with underlying medical conditions and a 75-year-old woman with underlying medical conditions also died from the coronavirus. All three people were hospitalized, according to the district.

“Our prayers are with the families of these individual during this time of loss,” said Dr. William R. Grow, district health director. “It is critical that the residents of our district take this disease seriously so we can try to prevent more individuals from contracting this devastating disease.”

The South Health District reported the district has now experienced 11 deaths due to COVID-19.

In Lowndes County, three more cases of COVID-19 was confirmed from 9:10 a.m., according to the 7 p.m. update of the Georgia Department of Health daily status report.

The added cases bring the county total to 79 cases, per the report.

Lowndes has had three deaths due to the coronavirus, according to the report.

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.

The GDPH status report is updated twice a day — once at noon and once at 7 p.m. The SGMC COVID-19 report updates daily at 12:30 p.m. The VDT database is updated daily after noon.