Nearly 160 new COVID-19 deaths reported, marking deadliest day in Georgia since pandemic began

ATLANTA — Friday marked the deadliest day in Georgia since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

State health officials reported 159 more deaths from the virus on Friday, setting a new record for deaths reported in a single, 24-hour period.

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It’s the fourth day in a row that more than 100 deaths have been reported. Nearly 600 people (597) have died from the coronavirus in Georgia since Monday. Four of the five deadliest days of the pandemic in Georgia have been in just the past week.

At least 10,878 people across the state have died since the pandemic began in March.

The top five deadliest days in Georgia since the pandemic began are as follows:

Jan. 15: 159

Jan 12: 143

Jan. 14: 141

Jan 13: 137

Aug. 20, 2020: 129

[LINK: Where to find the COVID-19 vaccine in Georgia]

Georgia reported 7,394 new cases of COVID-19 Friday with a 10.8% positivity rate.

The rolling 7-day average of new cases is 6,858. The 7-day positivity rate is 17.9%.

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Channel 2 Anchor Carol Sbarge talked to officials in Gwinnett County, where the rolling 14-day positivity rate is now more than 24%. Eastside Medical Center CEO Trent Lind said they currently have 65 COVID-19 patients.

“We still see the full gamut,” Lind said. “Age doesn’t really play a factor at all times.”

Lind said they are anticipating the spike in coronaviruses to continue this month. He said one of the biggest strains for hospitals during this ongoing pandemic is on their staff.

“We’ve been going through this now ten months and there is certainly a lot of fatigue,” Lind said.

He encourages everyone to get the vaccine when it is available.

State using 25-year-old system to handle COVID-19 vaccine tracking, investigation finds State officials say data glitches and lags are part of the reason the CDC ranks the state at the bottom for distributing the vaccine.