Date: 26 August, 2021

Introduction


General Use of this Report

The data in this report can be used to assess the extent of COVID-19 transmission among preschool/daycare aged children (0-4 years), K-12 school aged children (5-17 years), and college/professional school aged adults (18-22 years) in Georgia. Click on the above tabs to see statewide and county level COVID-19 data. This report is updated weekly. Please consult additional resources to understand trends and other factors affecting your county.

This report will be updated on a weekly basis.

Additional county level information about covid cases and vaccinations among school aged children can be found here: https://chhs-gt.shinyapps.io/age_dashboard/

Data Description

Age categories were chosen based on the closest approximation to preschool/daycare aged children (0-4 years), K-12 school aged children (5-17 years old), and college/professional school aged adults (18-22 years). School Age Category: These age groups were chosen based on the closest approximation of children in elementary school (5-10 years), middle school (11-13 years), and high school (14-17 years).

Start date: 5/4/2020 was chosen as the start date since it coincides with the initial rise in cases among school aged children. 12/10/2020 Update: Week start will be moved to 6/01/2020

COVID-19 Cases

Source

A confirmed case is an individual with a positive molecular (PCR) test. Confirmed COVID-19 cases reported to the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH), defined as an individual with a positive molecular (PCR) test. Only molecular test results are used in identifying confirmed cases. These test results are reported through multiple sources including electronic lab reporting (ELR), State Electronic Notifiable Disease Surveillance System (SendSS), faxed case reports and calls from providers to DPH. All persons who have a PCR lab-confirmed infection and are reported to DPH are counted as confirmed cases.

An antigen positive case has a positive antigen test result on a respiratory specimen.

All laboratory positive cases include cases that have tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 with either a PCR or antigen test.

County refers to county of residence; cases are counted according to county of residence. Hospitalizations are defined as cases who were reported as hospitalized at the time the case was reported or investigated. For a more detailed description of the data and data limitations see: https://ga-covid19.ondemand.sas.com/docs/GA_COVID19_Dashboard_Guide.pdf These data may not accurately represent true spread throughout school age children and should be considered with additional factors affecting the community in consultation with the District Public Health Department.

Measures

Click on the Confirmed Cases, Probable Cases, or All Laboratory Positive Cases tab to view confirmed, probable, or laboratory positive cases.

Emergency Department visits

Source

Syndromic Surveillance (SS) provides a method for timely detection of potential clusters or outbreaks of specified diseases/events (Syndromes). SS data include emergency department (ED) visits based on the patient’s chief complaint upon admission and/or discharge diagnosis. Text and diagnosis codes are searched to identify syndromes which can indicate changes in the number of people seeking care in emergency departments for those diseases or conditions. For the purpose of this report, the Influenza Like Illness (ILI) and Covid-19 (COVID) syndromes were used to analyze trends in ED visits potentially related to COVID-19. The most recent data analyzed begins 3 days prior to the date of this report due to delays in reporting.

Additional notes: Approximately 90% of Georgia EDs currently report to DPH, most data are available within 72 hours of patient visit. 80% of facilities are currently submitting discharge diagnosis information, final diagnosis may differ from the chief complaint recorded during admission. Changes in counts may vary if a new facility begins reporting to DPH or temporarily stops reporting due to technical issues. Documentation of chief complaint varies by facility. SS data does not necessarily depict the true burden of specified diseases/events. Date represents the ED visit date. Criteria for syndromes are subject to change as additional information is received.

Measures

Laboratory Tests

Source

Molecular (PCR) test results reported to DPH through ELR only, not all reporting sources, therefore these data do not represent all tests performed in Georgia. ELR reports include both positive and negative results; other reporting sources do not consistently report negative results. County represents county of residence. The date reflects the date the test was reported.

Measures

School Clusters

Source

Clusters of cases in daycare, schools, and higher education settings reported to or identified by DPH.

Note 1: This number may not reflect all clusters due to under-reporting.

Note 2: Clusters include all active and closed investigations. As reported clusters are investigated, those that do not meet the following confirmed outbreak definition will be removed from the data.

Confirmed Daycare/School/Higher Education Outbreaks Definition: Laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 in two or more people (students or staff) with symptom onset/collection dates within a 14 day period who are epidemiologically linked, do not share a household, and were not identified as close contacts of each other in another setting during standard case investigation or contact tracing.

County Data

Please be patient data can take a moment to load

Measures

Confirmed Cases Tab

Antigen Postive Cases Tab

All Laboratory Positive Cases (PCR and Antigen Positive)

Statewide Data

Columns

COVID-19 Cases by Week and Age

Definitions A confirmed case is an individual with a positive molecular (PCR) test. Confirmed COVID-19 cases reported to the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH), defined as an individual with a positive molecular (PCR) test. Only molecular test results are used in identifying confirmed cases.

An antigen positive case has a positive antigen test result on a respiratory specimen.

All laboratory positive cases include cases that have tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 with either a PCR or antigen test.

Start date: 5/4/2020 was chosen as the start date since it coincides with the initial rise in cases among school aged children.









COVID-19 Cases Among School Aged Children

This graph more closely explores the data collected from age groups that represent school age children. These age breakouts can be used to look more closely at elementary age, middle school age, and high school age children.



Pediatric Hospitalizations by Age Category





Pediatric Emergency Department Visits





COVID-19 Molecular Testing (PCR) Reported Through Electronic Lab Reporting

#Graph 5
total_tests2

# total_tests <-
#   df1_pcr_tests_reportDT %>%
#   filter( between(Epiweek , mdy("05/01/2020"), mdy("08/10/2020"))) %>%
#   ggplot( aes(Epiweek)) +
#   geom_col( aes(y = total_pcr_tests, fill = "grey10", color = age_category2), width = 6) +
#   geom_col( aes(y = positive_PCR_tests, fill = "yellow", color = age_category2), alpha = 0.9, width = 6) +
#                       label = c("Number of PCR Tests Conducted",
#                                 "Number of Positve PCR Tests")
#   ) +
#   #facet_wrap(~age_category2, scales = "free_y", ncol = 2) +
#   theme_classic() +
#   theme( axis.text.x = element_text(angle = 90)) +
#   scale_x_date(date_breaks = "1 weeks") +
#   labs(
#     x = "Date Reported",
#     y = "Number of PCR Tests",
#     title = "Number of PCR Positive and Total PCR tests by Date Reported to DPH and
#     Age Category",
#     color = "Age Category")

#graph 6

#total_tests





Summary Table and Recent Trends by Age Category of Confirmed Cases

Age Category Total Cases Cases per 100,000 Cases Current Week Cases Previous Week % Change
0-4 Years 20466 3113.1 1713 1188 44.2%
5-17 Years 113988 6165.1 10990 6545 67.9%
18-22 Years 98242 13419.7 2874 2294 25.3%
Age Category Total PCR Tests % PCR Positive % Positive Current Week % Positive Previous Week % Change
0-4 Years 272781 8.8% 9.9% 8.5% 17.3%
5-17 Years 978436 13.2% 16.7% 14.3% 16.9%
18-22 Years 993557 12.4% 15.1% 12.5% 21.0%



County Cases

Column

Confirmed COVID-19 Cases by County

Antigen Positive Cases

All Laboratory Positive Cases (PCR and Antigen Positive)