Franklin County Sheriff A.J. Smith said state Sen. Bruce Thompson, a Republican from White, arrived Tuesday night at his beachfront home in St. George, Florida.
The senator sought medical help and was hospitalized for respiratory issues and was told he was positive for Covid-19 March 22. To celebrate, he took an entourage of three vehicles to his vacation home yesterday which is located in the private community within Franklin County on the Florida panhandle, which includes the famous fishing village of Apalachicola. One Covid-19 case has been reported in the county. Said Sheriff Smith. . .
“I read his Facebook page and he had ‘hashtag stay home’ — and he’s down here in Florida,” Smith said. “If he had just stayed home we wouldn’t be in this problem. We wouldn’t be doing this.”
(SNIP)
“I am going to put a deputy out in front of his house and if he leaves we’re going to ask him why, because he’s supposed to self quarantine — which could lead to an arrest,
“I’m serious about this,” Smith said. “I’m not playing around. I appreciate his position in Georgia, being a senator, but it’s irresponsible for him to be here, I think, and to put our community in danger.”
Sen. Thompson claimed he had a clean bill of health. The CDC rules for Covid-19 post-diagnosis behavior say, a person may “end isolation if he or she has not had a fever for three days, other symptoms have subsided and it’s been seven days since symptoms first appeared.” It’s possible the senator has met those requirements. However, the National policy, the state of GA policy, and in FL, as of this afternoon’s announcement by its governor, Ron de Santis is to “stay at home.”
So what is Thompson thinking when he goes on vacation in another state?
************************************************************************
Today’s significant increase in cases is in part due to additional laboratories reporting to DPH, and also improvements in electronic reporting from other laboratories. Patient information is often incomplete and DPH works to complete the records, so data will change over time. — Georgia Department of Health
Georgia Department of Public Health Statistics
Updates Now Issued at Noon and 7:00 PM
3/3/2020 First day of reporting 3 cases, 0 deaths
3/12/2020 First death reported 1 death
3/30/2020 Noon report 2809 cases, 707 hospitalized, 87 deaths
4/1/2020 Noon report
COVID-19 Confirmed Cases: |
No. Cases (%) |
Total |
4638 (100%) |
Hospitalized |
952(20.53%) |
Deaths |
139 (3%) |
COVID-19 Testing By Lab Type: |
No. Pos. Tests |
Total Tests |
Commercial Lab |
4281 |
18226 |
GPH Lab |
357 |
2100 |
************************************************************************
Discussion
Leading age group demographic remains 18-59 years-old, which stands at 58% of all cases (an increase of 1% over last several reports); no reported changes from last Friday in the other age groups. Breakdown by sex shows significant change, now at 51% female and 46% male; when last reported the breakdown was 49% female, 48% male.
Deaths: 80 male 53 female 6 unk
Those deaths overwhelmingly in people over 60 years of age. The oldest was 95, the youngest was 29, unchanged since last report.
************************************************************************
News You Can Use
Georgia May primary is still on for now amid pressure for a delay
Georgia governor to order shelter in place to curb coronavirus
Emory, Baylor, OSHA Study: Reusable respirators may be acceptable alternative to disposable ones
No timetable for widespread virus testing amid ongoing test scarcity
As coronavirus spreads, Atlanta finds hotel to house sick homeless