3 Georgia Counties Rank High In National COVID-19 Rates

Georgia is only at 34% of the testing target needed to control the pandemic, one expert noted. The target was set by the Harvard Global Health Institute based on disease transmission, population and other metrics.

David J. Phillip / Associated Press

Three Georgia counties appear among the top 20 hot spots for new COVID-19 cases over the past seven days, as compiled Wednesday by the New York Times.

Cases at Fort Benning are evidently still driving high virus numbers in Chattahoochee County, which is No. 3 in per capita rates among counties nationally in the past week, according to the Times’ list.

Clinch County, in south Georgia, is No. 12. It’s a county that has high levels of poverty and obesity.  Health officials in that area link the jumps in new infections to many people not wearing masks or social distancing.