A milestone no one will celebrate has been reached in Augusta. The Children’s Hospital of Georgia is reporting a child has died from SARS-CoV-2. Spokeswoman Lisa Kaylor confirmed the child died Wednesday, Sept. 1. HIPPA laws prevent the release of any additional details. The child was one of nine children hospitalized at CHOG.
The loss of a child comes at a time when hospitalizations are surging in Georgia and the Augusta-Aiken area.
MORE: Georgia Tops More Than 1 Million COVID-19 Cases
On Sept. 1 at Augusta University Medical Center, there were 128 COVID-19 patients hospitalized with 54 in ICU and 38 on ventilators. Of that total, 121 of the patients were unvaccinated. A month earlier, on Aug. 2, AUMC had just 38 COVID-19 inpatients.
University Hospital is reporting 150 patients — 129 of them unvaccinated — being treated for COVID-19 as of Sept. 2. It includes 29 in intensive care and 27 on ventilators. Spokeswoman Rebecca Sylvester said those patients are all in the main hospital as they still do not have sufficient staff to utilize the Summerville hospital for COVID-19 patients. One month earlier, on Aug. 2, University Hospital had just 49 inpatients.
[adrotate banner=”13″]
At Doctors Hospital, there were 24 patients being treated for COVID-19 on Aug. 2. By Sept. 2, that had ballooned to 85. The hospital did not release the number in ICU, on ventilators and how many were unvaccinated.
Overall, Georgia’s number of hospitalized patients grew by more than 1,000 during this time period. On Aug. 2 the number was approximately 12,500. One month later, it was 13,565, or 87.7% of hospital capacity. There were 2,871 ICU beds in use, which translates to 94.3%, and 1,915, or 51.3%, of adult ventilators were in use.
MORE: COVID-19 Stories: Moral Distress and Burnout Are Causing Nurses to Quit
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website provides a data tracker at this website. It shows the United States had 47,169 patients hospitalized on Aug. 1. By the end of the month, the total was 92,319.
Dana Lynn McIntyre is a Staff Reporter with The Augusta Press. You can reach her at dana@theaugustapress.com.
[adrotate banner=”51″]
