DPH reports 50 cases of COVID-19 in Stephens County

The Georgia Department of Public Health is now reporting 50 cases of COVID-19 in Toccoa-Stephens County.

As of 12 p.m. Friday, the Department of Public Health updated its website to reflect the most current numbers.

Habersham County has been hit the hardest with 156 positive cases of the virus and three fatalities due to complications from the virus.

Locally, at Stephens County Hospital, staff have tested 266 individuals for the virus.

Of those, 31 tests have come back positive, 204 received negative results, and 31 are still awaiting their results.

According to Stephens County Hospital Vice President of Physician Practices Van Loskoski, the hospital has started increasing its testing capacity.

Additionally, Loskoski reminds residents that the hospital has reopened its outpatient registration entrance and have resumed some of those outpatient services; however, the hospital continues to restrict visitation at the hospital.

This morning, Stephens County Hospital Chief Executive Officer Mike Hester, announced that the hospital is treating two hospitalized patients who are positive for COVID-19, and one more who is still awaiting their results.

He says 11 patients who were treated for COVID-19 at Stephens County Hospital have now fully recovered. There are 19 others who are at home and are recovering.

In other neighboring counties, Banks County has a total of 16 cases, Rabun County has nine, Franklin County has 15, and Hart County has six cases.

Across the state of Georgia, the Department of Public Health is reporting a total of 22,147 cases, of those, 4,221 have been hospitalized and 892 have died from complications of the virus.

Both the Georgia Department of Public Health and Stephens County Hospital continue to post daily updates on their websites at dph.georgia.gov and stephenscountyhospital.com, respectively.