First responder

VALDOSTA — First responders will soon be tipped beforehand if they are heading to a call where COVID-19 is known to be involved.

The Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency, in collaboration with the Georgia Department of Public Health, will begin to provide a list of COVID-19 cases in each jurisdiction to 911 centers this week, according to a statement released Wednesday from Gov. Brian Kemp’s office.

As hospitals, acute-care facilities, and labs report their COVID-19 cases to the Georgia Department of Public Health, staff from the Georgia Emergency Communications Authority will pull the daily case list from the DPH reporting system and send each 911 center the newest addresses of COVID-19 positive patients in their jurisdiction, the statement said.

The list, once put into the computer system for Lowndes County’s 911 system, will flag law enforcement, fire personnel and EMTs with a code showing if the dispatch address has had a confirmed case of COVID-19 in the last 21 days, said Paige Dukes, Lowndes County clerk and public information officer.

No names will be on the list; it will only consist of addresses, she said.

“Once an address (with COVID-19) has been put into the computer, it will automatically delete after 21 days,” Dukes said, adding the county is protecting people’s privacy while protecting emergency personnel.

There will be no printed-out list on paper going around, she said; all dispatchers will see is the one address that pops up on the computer if an address matches an entry on the COVID-19 list.