Damon Hoyte was so worried he would spread COVID-19 to his family after he was diagnosed with it this month that he moved out of his house in Cusseta and into a travel trailer parked in his backyard. He lived there for 11 days, reading Proverbs in the Bible, praying and watching old “Perry Mason” episodes on TV.
A Chattahoochee County commissioner, Hoyte, 45, endured nausea, a fever and body aches. He finally recovered from the disease and left his trailer for good this week, happily reuniting with his wife of 22 years and two sons.
“The thing that really stood out about this COVID to me were the headaches, the unbearable headaches — to the point where my head was sore to the touch,” said Hoyte, who suspects he contracted his illness at the Columbus-area airplane engine company where he works.
Hoyte is among 504 people who have tested positive for the disease in Chattahoochee, a rural southwest Georgia county with about 11,000 residents that includes much of Fort Benning. As of Thursday, Chattahoochee ranked second among Georgia’s 159 counties for the highest number of confirmed cases per 100,000 residents, according to state Department of Public Health data.
Benning, a vast military installation that trains tens of thousands of troops each year from America and around the world, takes up 80% of the county. Benning’s hospital and some of its base housing are located within the county.
“Any troops coming in that were positive — that would be counted as Chattahoochee County,” said Pamela Kirkland, a spokeswoman for the DPH’s West Central Health District, which includes Chattahoochee.
In May, the military confirmed 142 soldiers and trainees at Benning tested positive for the disease over a two-day period at Martin Army Community Hospital.
The Pentagon has stopped providing numbers of positive cases for each of its bases, citing security concerns. Instead, it is releasing nationwide totals. As of Wednesday, 32,728 U.S. troops, dependents, civilians and contractors had tested positive for COVID-19, and 51 had died from the disease.
Benning fights COVID-19
At Benning, the military has scrambled to stop the spread of the disease by limiting access to the post and encouraging troops to wear masks, wash their hands and stay physically distant from each other. Troops arriving for training are tested for COVID-19 on their first day at Benning, kept in cohorts, moved into isolation for 14 days and tested again. Those who test positive are moved into quarantine and tested again.
Troops assigned to Benning are permitted to leave the base “for essential purposes only.” On and off post, those subject to military orders must wear masks under certain conditions. They are prohibited from exercising in gyms off post or eating in restaurants.
“Protecting the health of the force is our top priority,” said Ben Garrett, a Benning spokesman. “The COVID-19 threat is real. It is imperative that we protect the thousands of soldiers who train at and will depart Fort Benning to join units around the globe.”
Two other Georgia counties just south of the base — Stewart and Randolph — ranked third and fourth, respectively, for their total numbers of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents, as of Thursday. Each has fewer than 7,000 residents and more than 200 positive cases of the disease.
Many other factors are at play. In Stewart, 127 people held in a federal immigration detention center near the county seat of Lumpkin have been diagnosed with the disease. One has succumbed to COVID-19. Meanwhile, 87 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed among residents and staff at the Joe-Anne Burgin Nursing Home, a county-owned facility in Cuthbert, the Randolph County seat. Seventeen residents have died from it.
‘This is real'
Hoyte shared his story with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution to raise awareness about the disease.
“This is real. This is serious,” said Hoyte, who has lost two relatives in Georgia to COVID-19. “I tell my fellow co-workers and everyone I am around: Treat everyone like they have it. It will make things so much simpler.”
During his battle with COVID-19, Hoyte struggled with fatigue.
“I would go for a small walk or whatsoever around the house and I would come back and I would have to go to sleep,” he said. “I consider myself a pretty healthy individual, but my energy levels — it totally drained me.”
Saying he has gained nearly all his energy back, Hoyte credits his recovery to his Christian faith and the prayers he received from fellow parishioners at Kingsville Baptist Church in Cusseta. Meanwhile, he is savoring being out of the trailer and home with his wife and sons.
“It feels great,” he said, “to be back in the house.”
