FULTON COUNTY COVID-19 UPDATE Need for Blood Donations, Testing and Data
The impact of COVID-19 continues to be far reaching with each day bringing new developments, positive and negative. This has presented new opportunities and challenges, as we collectively battle this pandemic and seek to minimize its impact.
The challenges that COVID-19 has presented remain and are multi-faceted but collectively, we are meeting them head on with ingenuity, thoughtfulness, hard work, adaptability, courage, and kindness. I am awestruck by the many people in our communities who are rising to the challenge every day with a "can-do, will-not-be- defeated" spirit. My prayers continue for everyone who has suffered hardship and pain as a result of this pandemic, and I look forward to the better days that lie ahead.
BLOOD DONATIONS NEEDED
Blood supplies have shrunk considerably, as people have sheltered in place and traditional blood donation efforts have been curtailed. As we open up healthcare facilities for elective surgeries and other procedures, it is critical that we re-build that supply. Many health care providers are making this plea, and I want to encourage you or those in your family to donate, if you are able to do so. Two great organizations that are taking blood donations are LifeSouth and the American Red Cross. Find more information about how to donate at these links:
As I shared in last week’s update, Fulton County has led the state in COVID-19 testing thanks to the collective efforts of many. This week, those efforts have continued to expand and grow as more testing locations have opened, including a site operated by the Fulton County Board of Health at 4700 North Point Parkway in Alpharetta. There is ample free-testing capacity within the county and the process is relatively simple.
In addition to these testing sites, we continue to focus on expanded testing in group settings such as nursing homes and testing within the homeless population. The number of coronavirus cases in facilities serving the elderly remains a concern and protecting our older population continues to be a top priority. We are encouraged that less than two percent of the homeless population tested have contracted COVID-19 and we hope that those numbers will remain low.
There is also a new focus on the utilization of antibody testing, as it offers great promise in predicting and managing the impact of COVID-19. As such, it is encouraging to see that the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the Georgia Department of Health (DPH), the Fulton County Board of Health and the DeKalb County Board of Health are conducting antibody testing until May 4, 2020 in select households. We hope that everyone contacted will participate in the testing, as the results of this effort should be helpful to the state as well as the County.
DATA, DATA AND MORE DATA
Data and modeling of data have become key elements in understanding the impact of COVID-19 and help us make collective and individual decisions about how to minimize the impact of the virus. It is evident that the available data has its limitations, but it continues to improve and provide key insights that can be useful to all of us.
Some specific sources of data that I have been reviewing and which may be of interest to you are as follows:
Fulton County COVID-19 Case Data by City and Zip Code: The Fulton County Board of Health is now providing periodic epidemiology reports that identify cases by city and zip code. This data can be found at Fulton County Epidemiology Reports.
Georgia Situation Report:
GEMA produces a daily situation report that contains an array of data including key information on the capacity of our healthcare system including the availability of ER beds, critical care beds and general beds. This report can be found at GEMA Healthcare System Data.
Georgia Department of Public Health Daily Status Report: This report contains many data points and graphical presentations of the data trends. It has continued to improve in its presentation and quality over the past few days and can be found at DPH Daily Status Report.
Commissioner Bob Ellis
bob.ellis@fultoncountyga.gov
404-612-8216
