The number of COVID-19 patients in hospitals across Georgia has been termed “staggering”, “overwhelming” and “serious” by health officials.   The number of hospitalized COVID patients is higher than it has been since January of this year.

This weekend, Floyd Medical Center Chief Medical Officer Dr. Ken Jones told the Rome News-Tribune, “Getting vaccinated is the only way we’re going to get this pandemic under control.”

An average of 12 cases per day were reported in Chattooga County, a 124 percent increase from the average two weeks ago. Since the beginning of the pandemic, at least 1 in 8 residents have been infected, a total of 3,124 reported cases. Right now, Chattooga County is at an extremely high risk for unvaccinated people.

Hospitalizations for COVID patients in Chattooga County is up 184% from the first week of July, according to numbers released on Friday.

As of Saturday, there were no ICU beds available at Floyd Medical Center and only five beds at Redmond Regional Medical Center.  Floyd was reporting 29 COVID patients and Redmond was reporting 16.