Coronavirus (Source: WALB) By Jamie Worsley | March 11, 2021 at 6:00 PM EST - Updated March 11 at 6:00 PM ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) - One year ago, cases of the coronavirus began to emerge in the Southwest Georgia Public Health District (SWHD). Looking back, Dr. Charles Ruis with the Southwest Public Health District said these cases were just the beginning of the pandemic in our area, and the start of our very own “Ground Zero.” “It was the second week of March, early in the second week of March, we realized that someone had been an inpatient at Phoebe, who had had COVID. That was a huge shock. But that was just the beginning of many shockwaves that would come to us,” said Ruis.