Kemp: Fewest COVID-19 patients in Georgia hospitals since early April

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct an error in the number of reported deaths as of noon May 9. 

Gov. Brian Kemp said Saturday that Georgia has its lowest number of hospitalized patients positive for the novel coronavirus since hospitals across the state started reporting the number in early April.

In a tweet, Kemp said 1,203 people are currently hospitalized for COVID-19 in the state. Georgia also has the lowest number of ventilators in use since April — a total of 897 out of 1,945 available respirators, the governor said.

“We will win this fight together!” Kemp said in the tweet, which featured a photo of the governor, masked, with members of the Georgia Army and Air Force National Guard.

Georgia has ramped up testing for COVID-19 and late this week Kemp urged everyone to get tested, even in they do not show symptoms.

At noon Saturday, the state Department of Public Health reported 32,497 total confirmed cases of the virus since reporting began, up 326 since Friday at 7 p.m. The total confirmed deaths now stand at 1,400, up one since Friday night.

The state updates its figures for cases and deaths throughout the day, and some cases and deaths might have been confirmed in recent days and not solely within the past day.

Late last month, Kemp’s shelter-in-place order ended and the governor has allowed businesses such as restaurants to open for in-person dining, with new restrictions, and allowed other businesses such as salons, bowling alleys, tattoo parlors and fitness centers to reopen with some conditions.

Public health experts have warned the state risks triggering a new wave of cases with the loosened restrictions, though any potential spike in cases might take a week or longer to appear. Cases of COVID-19 are now confirmed in all 159 Georgia counties.