County and state officials provided an update on monkeypox and COVID-19 in Henry County at the August 16 Board of Commissioners meeting.
Monkeypox has been trending upward with a total of 11,177 confirmed cases in the United States as of August 15, with the Georgia Department of Health confirming 851 cases in the state, mostly in the metro Atlanta area.
“Monkeypox is a zoonotic virus that causes symptoms similar to, but less severe than smallpox. The virus is native to Africa, vaccines have decreased in the region and as a result the virus has begun to appear in unvaccinated individuals from the region,” according to lead epidemiologist Donovan Stephens of the Department of Health. “These adults will be inclined to travel causing the virus to spread to countries that did not have originated cases before.”
Monkeypox is spread through close, direct contact, such as contact with infectious rash, scabs or body fluids and through respiratory secretions during prolonged face to face contact or intimate physical contact.
The DPH District 4, which encompasses 13 counties including Henry, has confirmed 36 cases of Monkeypox.
According to Kevin Johnson, the county’s deputy director of emergency management, the county has seen a downward trend in COVID-19 of late. “Our current positivity rate is 25.3 percent, which is a 2 percent drop in the last seven days. Our hospitalization is averaging 20-25 patients at this time,” he said.
COVID-19 testing is now being offered at Red Hawk Park in McDonough as well as the new 24-hour COVID-19 vending machine located at the Henry County Public Safety Complex. Johnson said the new machine has been utilized frequently in the two weeks since it launched and the county’s vaccination rate is higher than 50 percent.
“In the past two weeks the COVID-19 vending machine has been utilized 26 times by our citizens,” Johnson told the commissioners. “Our current vaccination status is 51 percent which surpasses our original goal of a 50 percent vaccination rate.”
Red Hawk Park offers COVID-19 Testing on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m.
