The Georgia Department of Public Health on Saturday reported 73 additional coronavirus-related deaths, including one in Glynn County.
According to the state Department of Public Health, a total of 3,825 people have died in Georgia since the pandemic began.
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On Saturday, the state added 3,660 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the statewide total to 190,012 cases.
In the six Southeast Georgia counties tracked by News4Jax, 113 new cases were reported Saturday -- 31 in Glynn County, 29 in Charlton County, 27 in Camden County, 18 in Ware County, five in Brantley County and three in Pierce County.
The latest death recorded in Glynn County brings the county’s total to 29 deaths.
As of Saturday, the total number of hospitalizations statewide stood at 18,995 -- 306 of which were reported in the last 24 hours. The state admits the total number of hospitalizations is likely an underestimation since it only counted if it was at the time the case was reported to DPH. The number also does not represent the number of people currently hospitalized.
News4Jax tracks the increases in a 24-hour period, and it’s worth noting the increases in cases and deaths that we calculated Saturday did not match the increases on the DPH’s dashboard.
Nearly 1.6 million people had been tested in the state, which had a 10.9% positivity rate, as of Saturday.
The latest numbers came Saturday as officials in Camden and Glynn counties were preparing for effects of Hurricane Isaias, which could be off Georgia’s coastline on Monday.
On Friday, Gov. Brian Kemp signed two executive orders extending the state of emergency in the fight against the coronavirus outbreak. One order extends Georgia’s public health emergency through Sept. 10.
The other order extends existing requirements on social distancing, bans on gatherings of more than 50 people unless there is six feet between each person and other rules about operating businesses and nonprofit groups through August 15. However, the order also makes more than a dozen new claims about Kemp’s executive authority, citing state law and the state constitution, which may be aimed at bolstering his lawsuit against Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and the Atlanta City Council.
“The General Assembly has entrusted the authority to declare a state of emergency to the governor and vested him with the sole power to direct and manage the statewide response to any such emergency,” Kemp’s new language reads in part.
Atlanta and other local governments argue they are allowed to order people to wear masks in public and impose other restrictions, but Kemp argues they are not. An emergency hearing on Kemp’s lawsuit was scheduled this week but Kemp dropped the request.
In the meantime, local governments continue to impose new restrictions. Chatham County County Commission Chairman Al Scott on Friday imposed a mask order, in direct contravention of Kemp’s position. The Athens-Clarke Commission imposed new closing times on bars and ordered masks inside them on Thursday and was sued on Friday by bar owners who claim the commission illegally exceeds Kemp’s orders.