MACON, Ga. — After a steady increase starting in late September, there is now a small drop in the statewide COVID-19 case curve.
Right before the start of the state's two-week preliminary data window, Georgia averaged just shy of 1,200 new cases a day. It's a small drop from the 1,226 average a week before, which came after a stretch of increasing cases for a couple weeks.
Georgia is still well above the average of 770 new cases a day during the initial peak in April, though.
It is a much different story in some central Georgia counties, particularly Houston.
There, new cases doubled from the end of September to mid-October with an average of more than 16 new cases a day. That increase continues even into the preliminary data window over the past two weeks.
Dodge and Telfair counties have the state's second and third highest spread rates in the last two weeks. Dodge County reported 140 new cases in that time, while Telfair County added 90.
Other counties like Bibb and Laurens are seeing some relief after recent spikes. After more than two weeks of increasing cases, Bibb's numbers start to drop right before the preliminary data window. However, the county still averages more than Houston with 20 new cases a day.
Meanwhile, Laurens County cut its average daily case count nearly in half in the week leading up to the preliminary data window.
Across the state, hospitals are seeing more of an ebb and flow of new patients. Data shows the state averaging 102 new hospitalizations a day. It has generally hovered around that number for most of October. It's one-third of the peak reported in mid-July and less than the peaks earlier in the pandemic.
Deaths related to COVID-19 continue to drop in the state. Right before the preliminary window, an average of 18 Georgians died from the virus a day, far less than in August when the daily death toll climbed into the mid-70s.