An analysis conducted by USA Today in October 2020 revealed that of the ten counties with the highest death rates of COVID-19 nationally, five of them are found in Georgia. Hancock County, in which three of four residents are people of color (POC), places first on this list. The analysis found a similar trend in other counties, reporting that significantly high COVID death rates compared to the national average were found in counties where the majority of their population was POC. Georgia counties Randolph and Terrel, which are ranked third and fourth on the list of counties with the highest death rates due to COVID-19 respectively, have populations that are around two-thirds POC. Of the 50 US counties identified with the highest COVID death rates, twelve are located in rural Georgia. According to Jimmy Lewis, CEO of HomeTownHealth, an associate of rural hospitals in GA, these counties share high levels of poverty, chronic disease, uninsured rates, increased percentage of older residents, and finally medical care deficits. As a result, COVID-19 has disproportionately affected historically marginalized groups across the nation, especially in Georgia.
To identify specific county-level characteristics leading to disproportionate impact of COVID-19, the National Center for Primary Care at Morehouse School of Medicine conducted linear regression models to study the sociodemographic factors as predictors of COVID-19 confirmed case rates. When focusing on Georgia, they found that counties with a higher percentage of POC populations also had higher confirmed COVID-19 case rates. This correlation was independent of the proportion of people who were poor or uninsured in the GA counties. It was estimated that as the percent of black population increased by 1% on the county-level, the rate of COVID-19 confirmed cases increased by 2.3%. However, county-level poverty, uninsured rate, and population density were not significant when compared to increased county COVID-19 confirmed case rates. Overall, the spatial patterns of COVID-19 confirmed rates at the county-level were visually similar to the spatial pattern of black populations residing in the county, as well as uninsured status and poverty level.
Vaccination Data in Georgia
According to Emory University’s COVID-19 Vaccination tracker the number of partially vaccinated individuals in the US is 47,133,278 (14.2%), of which 1,472,339 (13.9%) are residing in Georgia. The number of fully vaccinated individuals is 80,609,818 (24.3%), of which 1,8999,992 (17.9%) are Georgia residents. Currently, the COVID-19 Burden in Georgia is about 1,591 new daily cases (-0% 14-day change) and 62 daily COVID deaths (22% decrease 14-day change). When examining COVID-19 mortality in Georgia and focusing on deaths by race and ethnicity, 165 deaths per 100K residents are African American, 163 are White, 88 and Hispanic, and 75 are Asian.
Emory’s Initiatives
- COVID-19 Vaccination Tracker is regularly updated: https://covid19.emory.edu/Vaccine-Tracker. It overlays racial, social, and healthcare information on top of vaccination data.
- Partnered with Mexican consulate to address COVID-19 disparities in Latinx communities, specifically how COVID-19 infection rates are 3 times higher than the state average.
- Also offer testing to population in metr0-Atlanta
- Partnership with Rollins and GA DPH
- Bringing COVID testing and education to poultry workers and their family members and contacts in rural GA
Published: April, 2021