Georgia Coastal Health District

The Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) is releasing a new video explaining the state’s COVID-19 contact tracing efforts, asking residents to ‘answer the call’ if DPH reaches out.

This video is part of a larger campaign rolling out across the state promoting the Healthy Georgia Collaborative, DPH’s expanded contact tracing program to combat the spread of COVID-19. Contact tracing is an important public health tool used to monitor the spread of infection and identify outbreaks of COVID-19 before they become widespread community transmission.

Since May, the Healthy Georgia Collaborative has deployed about 1,300 contact tracers and case investigators statewide to interview individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19, and then alert, quarantine and test contacts who may have been exposed. To date, 16,590 cases have been interviewed and 40,082 contacts identified.

“For contact tracing to be successful, education is critical,” said DPH Commissioner Kathleen E. Toomey, M.D., M.P.H. “We need residents to understand what contact tracing is, why it’s important, and how they can participate in helping Georgia stop the spread of COVID-19.”

Beyond explaining the contact tracing process, DPH’s new video also urges residents to “Answer the Call!” When contacts of COVID-19 cases are identified, the first and fastest way that DPH can notify them of their exposure is by calling. “If you don’t pick up the phone,” explains Dr. Toomey, “Then we can’t alert you and get you the support you need. This puts yourself and others at risk of getting sick.”

To encourage participation and reduce scams, when DPH calls, the caller ID will say, “GA COVID Team.” Contact tracers will provide resources and information on testing, symptom monitoring and protection for family members. Any information provided to DPH staff members is kept confidential per HIPAA, which is the law that protects an individual’s personal health information. Georgia’s contact tracing program does not use GPS or Bluetooth technology to track movements of residents.

Contact tracers will never ask for personal information like Social Security numbers, credit card information or citizenship status. If you suspect fraudulent activity or know of someone else who has experienced this, please contact the DPH COVID-19 hotline immediately to report: 1-844-442-2681.

For more information about COVID-19 visit covid19.gachd.org, or the GDPH site at https://dph.georgia.gov/novelcoronavirus.

Beginning Monday, June 8th, appointments will no longer be required for the Coastal Health District’s COVID-19 specimen collection sites in Savannah and Brunswick. These two sites will be available for drive-through testing several days each week, serving anyone who would like a test at no cost and with no appointment required.

“When these sites were first established, the appointments helped us manage our limited supplies and ensure access for priority testing groups,” said District Health Director, Dr. Lawton Davis. “Now that our supplies have increased and anyone can be tested, we can remove the barrier of scheduling an appointment for two of our busiest testing locations.”

Drive-through testing will be available without an appointment at these two fixed locations beginning June 8, 2020:

Savannah: 7221 Sallie Mood Drive, near the Jennifer Ross Soccer Complex

• Monday, Wednesday, Friday, 8 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
• Saturday, 8:30 a.m. – 12 p.m.
• “Pop-up” mobile testing sites in various locations on Tuesdays and Thursdays

Brunswick: 2747 4th Street in the parking lot of the Glynn County Health Dept.

• Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
• “Pop-up” mobile testing sites in various locations on Saturdays

Appointments are still required for the two specimen collection sites in Bryan County. The site in Richmond Hill offers free testing 7 days a week by appointment, and the site in Pembroke offers free testing by appointment every Friday from 8:30 a.m. – 12 p.m. Residents can call the Coastal Health District Testing Call Center at 912-230-9744 to begin the scheduling process for those 2 Bryan County sites.

Please note, as we move into the hot summer months, any testing site may close early and unexpectedly because of excessive heat or storms. Outdoor testing locations are ideal for reducing the risk of virus transmission, but thunderstorms pose a risk to health department staff and other first responders. Also, hot temperatures could lead to heat-related illness, especially for personnel wearing full personal protective equipment including masks, gloves, gowns, and face shields.

For additional information on testing, including a list of upcoming mobile testing sites, visit our COVID-19 testing page.

Atlanta – Effective Tuesday, June 2, there will be several improvements to the COVID-19 Daily Status Report on the Georgia Department of Public Health’s (DPH) website. These changes are designed to make the dashboard more user-friendly while providing an accurate picture of COVID-19 in Georgia.

The changes to the Daily Status Report will include:

• Once daily updates at 3 p.m. to allow time to process and validate laboratory and case reports.
• Reordering the display of key summary metrics as follows: Confirmed COVID-19 Cases, Hospitalizations, Deaths, ICU Admissions.
• A breakdown of the total number of molecular (PCR) tests, the total number of serology tests, and the number of positives and percentage of positives for each test type.
• Revised charts of key demographics that more clearly present data.
• Improved usability of charts and refinements to labelling and supporting documentation of the data. 

DPH will regularly review and update features of the dashboard to improve data quality and accuracy.

For updates on COVID-19, follow @GaDPH and @GovKemp on Twitter and @GaDPH and @GovKemp on Facebook.

For information about COVID-19, visit https://dph.georgia.gov/novelcoronavirus or https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html.