Phoebe reports latest weekly COVID-19 numbers The surge in COVID-19 cases in Southwest Georgia began a month ago. (Source: WALB) By Dave Miller | December 23, 2020 at 12:01 PM EST - Updated December 23 at 12:01 PM
ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) - On Wednesday, Phoebe Putney Health System released its latest COVID-19 numbers.
As of noon, these were Phoebe’s latest numbers:
Total COVID-19 patients in Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital – 77
Total COVID-19 patients in Phoebe Sumter Medical Center – 10
Total COVID-19 patients in Phoebe Worth Medical Center – 0
Total inpatients recovered – 1,528
Total positive deaths from Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital – 179
Total positive deaths from Phoebe Sumter – 45
Total people vaccinated – 1,081
Phoebe employees react to COVID-19 shot after vaccination
Phoebe employees react to COVID-19 shot 24-hours after vaccination By Bobby Poitevint | December 19, 2020 at 9:46 AM EST - Updated December 19 at 9:46 AM
ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) - Around 450 people have now been vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus by Phoebe Putney Health System as of Friday afternoon.
Many of them were Phoebe employees who got the shot first Thursday afternoon.
Mandy Hall and Will Runyon were some of the first Phoebe Putney Health System employees to take the highly anticipated Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine just hours after it arrived in Albany on Thursday.
âI actually feel great,â Hall said. âIâve not had any side effects whatsoever. It feels good to know that thereâs now some protection whenever I come in contact with patients and also my family members.â
A Jackson Healthcare unit can get up to $68 million more to supply nurses and other health care workers to help hospitals and nursing homes deal with the COVID surge, under a state contract extension.
The Alpharetta-based company received a no-bid contract early in the pandemic for staffing. That original contract could extend to $250 million by the end of this year.
With the extension, the total that the Jackson Healthcare unit can receive could exceed $300 million.
The new agreement would extend the contract till March 6.
The firm, whose political connections have led to some criticism of the contract, has worked with more than 50 Georgia hospitals to help augment their workforces.
Georgia has set a new record for the number of people hospitalized for COVID on a single day.
The total reached 3,221 â surpassing the previous peak, 3,200, set in July â according to state Department of Public Health figures released Wednesday.
Northside Hospital told GHN that its hospitals âhave matched the spike we saw in July,ââ but added that COVID-19 patients still constitute less than 25 percent of its overall hospital patient population.
Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta said it had 70 COVID patients Wednesday, up from 63 on Tuesday and the low to mid-60s last week.
Meanwhile, the stateâs overall count of new infections reported Wednesday hit 6,869 (including people testing positive on rapid antigen tests), continuing a streak of high numbers of cases reported daily in the post-Thanksgiving surge.