Zero COVID patient admissions at Evans Memorial so far this month

EVANS COUNTY, Ga. (WTOC) - Health officials are reflecting as we mark two years since the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a pandemic.

The CEO of Evans Memorial Bill Lee said they have had zero COVID patient admissions so far this month. The decreasing numbers are causing officials here to reconsider some pandemic-era policies.

Lee says the hospital went from having more than a 30 percent positivity rate back in January to now less than 1 percent. He says that masking policies will remain in place, for now.

However, visitation policies have changed as the numbers have gone down. Lee says there are no visiting hour restrictions except for COVID patient visitors, which he says follows CDC guidelines.

Lee says he started work here at Evans Memorial just one week after COVID was declared a pandemic and that they’ve come a long way at the hospital since then.

“I think back to a year ago when we were having 6 or 7 patients at a time on a ventilator. Our facility hadn’t had vented patients in many years. So, for us to be able to care for these patients in this community, to be here, to be a resource and really be a sounding board for those communities to look at us as an expert and trying to care for those in our region…it’s really rewarding,” Lee said

Now even though the numbers are trending downward, Lee said the hospital remains ready as new COVID variants are identified oversees.

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