Two people in Georgia drank liquid cleaning products over the weekend in misguided attempts to ward off COVID-19, according to the Georgia Poison Center. Both men had histories of psychiatric problems and are expected to recover.The poison center’s director, Gaylord Lopez, said he did not know if the men guzzled the chemicals because they heard about President Donald Trump’s statements during a Thursday White House briefing, when the president wondered aloud if coronavirus could be treated by injecting a disinfectant into the human body. Since the pandemic began, at least two other...…Two people in Georgia drank liquid cleaning products over the weekend in misguided attempts to ward off COVID-19, according to the Georgia Poison Center. Both men had histories of psychiatric problems and are expected to recover.The poison center’s director, Gaylord Lopez, said he did not know if the men guzzled the chemicals because they heard about President Donald Trump’s statements during a Thursday White House briefing, when the president wondered aloud if coronavirus could be treated by injecting a disinfectant into the human body. Since the pandemic began, at least two other...WW…

Health officials saw the surge coming and sounded alarms, but the holiday get-togethers went on. Now, the scenes officials have dreaded the most since the start of the pandemic are playing out all over Georgia.Hospitals overflow with COVID-19 patients. Some nursing homes are erupting with new cases.Vaccinations are behind, and, for lack of staff, some health districts are limiting COVID testing to get the shots to health care workers and the elderly.Meanwhile, with deaths mounting, the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s office has deployed a refrigerated morgue truck to store bodies. A second...…Health officials saw the surge coming and sounded alarms, but the holiday get-togethers went on. Now, the scenes officials have dreaded the most since the start of the pandemic are playing out all over Georgia.Hospitals overflow with COVID-19 patients. Some nursing homes are erupting with new cases.Vaccinations are behind, and, for lack of staff, some health districts are limiting COVID testing to get the shots to health care workers and the elderly.Meanwhile, with deaths mounting, the Fulton County Medical Examiner’s office has deployed a refrigerated morgue truck to store bodies. A second...WW…

Tanner Health System, with 3,500 employees, is bursting with COVID-19 patients. For weeks it has been operating at full capacity, with some 55 patients needing admission Friday afternoon but waiting for beds. It has 61 COVID-19 patients being treated in units at its Carrollton, Villa Rica and Bremen hospitals.But the not-for-profit system so far has received no doses of to protect its staff. Maybe next week a shipment would come, Tanner Chief Operating Officer Greg Schulenburg said his contacts with the Georgia Department of Public Health have told the hospitals.Or it could be as late as...…Tanner Health System, with 3,500 employees, is bursting with COVID-19 patients. For weeks it has been operating at full capacity, with some 55 patients needing admission Friday afternoon but waiting for beds. It has 61 COVID-19 patients being treated in units at its Carrollton, Villa Rica and Bremen hospitals.But the not-for-profit system so far has received no doses of to protect its staff. Maybe next week a shipment would come, Tanner Chief Operating Officer Greg Schulenburg said his contacts with the Georgia Department of Public Health have told the hospitals.Or it could be as late as...WW…

As Georgia braces for a cold-weather coronavirus surge that could collide with the flu and send patients flooding into hospitals, facilities across the state are worried they don’t have enough nurses to treat their sickest patients.Employment ads show hospitals from Albany to Savannah, Augusta to Rome, trying to hire nurses to meet the wave. Augusta University Health is seeking 250 nurses, partly to staff its new COVID-19 beds and an ICU it converted into a COVID-19 ICU. Elbert Memorial Hospital in northeast Georgia is now approaching the state government for nurses.One temporary health...…As Georgia braces for a cold-weather coronavirus surge that could collide with the flu and send patients flooding into hospitals, facilities across the state are worried they don’t have enough nurses to treat their sickest patients.Employment ads show hospitals from Albany to Savannah, Augusta to Rome, trying to hire nurses to meet the wave. Augusta University Health is seeking 250 nurses, partly to staff its new COVID-19 beds and an ICU it converted into a COVID-19 ICU. Elbert Memorial Hospital in northeast Georgia is now approaching the state government for nurses.One temporary health...WW…

The state NAACP and other civil rights activists say a homicide case pending in Southeast Georgia shows that the state's controversial  law doesn't apply equally to Black people.William Marcus Wilson, a biracial, 21-year-old college student, faces felony murder and aggravated assault charges in the June 14 death of a white, 17-year-old high school student, Haley Hutcheson. In local news reports, his arrest mug shot has been juxtaposed with a photo of Hutcheson smiling and holding a small child, with Wilson portrayed as the culprit in a late-night highway shooting in Statesboro.But...…The state NAACP and other civil rights activists say a homicide case pending in Southeast Georgia shows that the state's controversial  law doesn't apply equally to Black people.William Marcus Wilson, a biracial, 21-year-old college student, faces felony murder and aggravated assault charges in the June 14 death of a white, 17-year-old high school student, Haley Hutcheson. In local news reports, his arrest mug shot has been juxtaposed with a photo of Hutcheson smiling and holding a small child, with Wilson portrayed as the culprit in a late-night highway shooting in Statesboro.But...WW…

It doesn’t matter if he’s walking into a grocery store, a restaurant, his gym or even a medical office. Joseph Ciotti doesn’t wear a mask.He knows COVID-19 is out there. He said he contracted it himself at a Fourth of July pool party last year that became a superspreader event but only had a mild case. The experience made the 67-year-old Suwanee retiree all the more convinced that the best way to fend off the virus is by boosting the immune system with vitamin supplements, not by or wearing a mask.Rarely, he said, does anyone give him grief. He estimates about half the people he sees out in...…It doesn’t matter if he’s walking into a grocery store, a restaurant, his gym or even a medical office. Joseph Ciotti doesn’t wear a mask.He knows COVID-19 is out there. He said he contracted it himself at a Fourth of July pool party last year that became a superspreader event but only had a mild case. The experience made the 67-year-old Suwanee retiree all the more convinced that the best way to fend off the virus is by boosting the immune system with vitamin supplements, not by or wearing a mask.Rarely, he said, does anyone give him grief. He estimates about half the people he sees out in...WW…

At least six cases of a mutant, more contagious COVID-19 strain from the United Kingdom have been confirmed in Georgia, but Georgians have no way of knowing if it’s spreading in their own communities.That’s because the state Department of Public Health, which has been tracking the new variant, refuses to say which cities or counties have had people infected. The department contends revealing that could lead to discovery of the names of patients, violating their privacy rights.Several other states, however, are identifying counties or cities where variant cases have been detected.The state’s...…At least six cases of a mutant, more contagious COVID-19 strain from the United Kingdom have been confirmed in Georgia, but Georgians have no way of knowing if it’s spreading in their own communities.That’s because the state Department of Public Health, which has been tracking the new variant, refuses to say which cities or counties have had people infected. The department contends revealing that could lead to discovery of the names of patients, violating their privacy rights.Several other states, however, are identifying counties or cities where variant cases have been detected.The state’s...WW…

Seniors lucky enough to get first doses of a coronavirus vaccine say they’re facing a nightmare trying to book appointments for the required booster shots.Even if they get appointments, it’s not clear if Georgia will have enough doses on hand to administer second shots while still meeting the for first shots. Last week the Trump administration acknowledged that a stockpile that was promised weeks ago to ensure patients could complete their two-dose regimens didn’t exist.Meanwhile, the state is plowing ahead with putting as many shots into as many arms as possible, counting on more shipments...…Seniors lucky enough to get first doses of a coronavirus vaccine say they’re facing a nightmare trying to book appointments for the required booster shots.Even if they get appointments, it’s not clear if Georgia will have enough doses on hand to administer second shots while still meeting the for first shots. Last week the Trump administration acknowledged that a stockpile that was promised weeks ago to ensure patients could complete their two-dose regimens didn’t exist.Meanwhile, the state is plowing ahead with putting as many shots into as many arms as possible, counting on more shipments...WW…