Health Experts Urge Stronger COVID Measures; New Strain Appears In State

Gov. Brian Kemp looks over 60 additional beds that have been set up for any patient overflows while touring the alternative hospital bed capacity facility the state of Georgia is re-activating at the Georgia World Congress Center, Tuesday, Dec. 29, 2020, in Atlanta, amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Curtis Compton / /Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, Pool

With Georgia topping 5,000 current hospitalizations for COVID-19, public health experts are calling for more state restrictions to curb the virus surge.

Yet another ominous factor popped up Tuesday: Georgia Public Health officials reported the state’s first case of the more contagious COVID-19 variant discovered in Britain last month and subsequently detected in several nations and U.S. states.

The variant was discovered during analysis of a specimen sent by a Georgia pharmacy to a commercial lab, state officials said. The Georgia resident is an 18-year-old male with no travel history, and is currently in isolation at home. Public Health said it’s working to identify close contacts of the individual and will monitor them closely and test them for the variant.