New COVID19 logo

MOULTRIE, Ga. — Two Colquitt County schools that have been on a hybrid attendance model due to COVID-19 cases will return to normal attendance on Monday.

Colquitt County School Superintendent Ben Wiggins told a Zoom call of community leaders Wednesday afternoon that the number of cases throughout the system had declined significantly over the last week.

On Aug. 30, students at Willie J. Williams Middle School and C.A. Gray Junior High School began the hybrid model, in which they’re divided in two groups alphabetically. One group attends school one day while the other completes work online from home. The next day, they swap.

The school system’s COVID update on Aug. 27 reported 260 students and 37 staff members had tested positive that week, while the update on Sept. 3 reported 164 and 13, respectively.

Also during the Zoom call, the Colquitt County Health Department updated times for COVID testing:

• The Colquitt County Health Department, 214 W. Central Ave., is administering the tests 2-4 p.m. Monday-Thursday. Pre-registration is not required.

• Mako Medical, a company contracted by the Georgia Department of Public Health, is administering the tests 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., seven days a week, at the gym at the former Colquitt County High School, 1800 Park Ave. Pre-register online at https://mako.exchange/splash/GAmakotesting/. 

Dana Murphy of the Colquitt County Health Department said lines at the health department testing site are often long, “but we get them done pretty quick.” The health department has tested an average of 106 to 109 people each day they’ve been operating, she said.

Murphy said she didn’t know how many people Mako has tested because their numbers go to the district office.

Jim Matney, CEO of Colquitt Regional Medical Center, said the peak in local cases of COVID appears to have been last week. He said patient caseload over the weekend was “manageable” for his staff, but numbers did start to rise again on Monday.

The Georgia Department of Public Health reported 55 new cases in Colquitt County on Tuesday, the most recent data on its website at https://dph.georgia.gov/covid-19-daily-status-report. That’s up from 28 new cases Saturday, but it’s down from a peak of 75 new cases Sept. 1.

Matney said the combination of the decline in caseload and the increase in testing and vaccinations from state and county public health agencies will enable the hospital to reduce its testing and vaccination efforts and concentrate more on caring for the people who are sick. Vaccination events are planned for tonight, Thursday and Saturday at the Vereen Rehabilitation Center, but the number of such events may decrease starting next week.

Responding to a question from Jody Redding of Gov. Brian Kemp’s office, Matney said the hospital had received some ventilators it had requested from the Georgia Emergency Management Agency. The only request it hadn’t received yet was for additional respiratory staff.

“Our people are tired,” he said.

Redding said he would check on the status of that request.