Fannin County has seen 360 total cases of COVID-19, 102 within the past two weeks, and five related deaths as of Friday, August 14.
According to the Georgia Department of Health, the reported deaths include an 84-year-old female with comorbidity, a 51-year-old male with comorbidity, an 80-year-old male with comorbidity, an 82-year-old male with unknown comorbidity and a 90+ female without comorbidity.
The Fannin County Board of Health met Wednesday, August 12, where they discussed a “steady” number of cases, three to four, being reported within the county daily.
“That’s sort of been the pattern that you’ve been going through, so you still have transmission within your community, but it’s not as high as some of the communities around you including Gilmer and Pickens to your south and Murray to your west,” North Georgia Health District Health Director Dr. Zachary Taylor said.
He explained that the health district is still conducting testing and investigating cases and contact.
“We continue to encourage everyone to wear masks when they’re in public,” Taylor said. “We encourage people not to have large gatherings. We encourage people to continue with their hand hygiene.”
According to Taylor, appointment testing will continue Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. at the Fannin County Health Department at this time. However, they are considering adding a fifth day of testing.
Appointments can be made by calling 888-881-1474.
EMA Director Robert Graham asked if test results were coming in any faster, and Taylor explained that they are still currently experiencing a three to five day timeframe for test results.
Fannin Regional Hospital’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Dillon Miller, asked if Taylor had received any concerns regarding the upcoming Kiwanis Rodeo scheduled for the weekend of August 21.
Taylor explained that he had not been made aware of the rodeo, but would advise against it.
Miller explained that he had previously advised against the rodeo as well, stating, “I recommended the same thing when someone reached out to me, but they expect more than 2,000 visitors per day.”
Taylor responded, “We know that when people get into large gatherings, they’re going to transmit the virus. Again, I would recommend against having something like that in the county especially now that you’re not having a lot of transmission, you have school going on, it’s just going to add to the problem in your county if you do that.”
Taylor said he would contact rodeo organizers to relay his advice.