ATLANTA (AP) – One of the nation’s largest convention centers will reopen next week with “surge beds” to treat COVID-19 patients as critical care units across Georgia remain nearly full, Gov. Brian Kemp announced Friday.
The Georgia World Congress Center in downtown Atlanta will begin receiving patients Monday with 60 beds initially and increase to 120 beds if needed, the Republican governor said.
“These additional hospital beds will provide relief to surrounding healthcare facilities while providing top notch care for patients,” Kemp said in a statement.
The news came as critical-care bed availability across Georgia eased slightly, but as the number of new cases, total hospitalizations and deaths remained high. The state on Friday reported that total infections now exceed 186,000, with nearly 3,200 people ill in hospitals and total deaths rising to 3,752. The highest rates of new infection continue to be along the Florida line and in eastern parts of the state from Augusta southward.
Also Friday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report documenting that of 597 adults and children who attended a Georgia summer camp in June, 260 tested positive for the illness. That was about three-quarters of the 344 people for whom test results were available. The CDC said the outbreak “adds to the body of evidence demonstrating that children of all ages are susceptible.”