MACON, Ga. — Georgia has seen a steady drop in new cases since January, but it does appear those improvements are slowing down. Meanwhile, health experts continue to warn about a possible new surge in cases.
Right before the state's two-week preliminary window, Georgia averaged 1,265 new cases a day. That's less than a 200 case improvement from two weeks before on March 8th. During the two weeks before that, the state improved by more than 600 cases, and in the two weeks prior to that, Georgia saw a more than 1,400 case improvement.
Georgia's case curve also does not show the typical steep drop-off within the preliminary window. Tallies in this window usually increase as the state receives more test results, so time will tell if this marks a turning point and cases creep back up.
The trend is a little more clear in some central Georgia counties like Bibb and Houston. Both show cases starting to increase leading into the two-week preliminary window. These are not large spikes in cases, but the curve is certainly not heading in the direction health experts want to see.
Meanwhile, there is a slight uptick in deaths tied to the virus in Georgia, though the change is very small.
Right before the preliminary window, Georgia averaged 13 deaths a day. That number starts to creep up slightly as you move into the preliminary window.
There is a similar trend in hospitalizations across the state. About two weeks ago, Georgia's average daily hospitalizations reached the lowest since last June. Those numbers then increased from 74 back up to 90 new patients a day and finally started dropping again within the last few days.