Sixth NCDC Report on COVID-19 in Georgia

The National Center for Disease Control and Public Health of Georgia (NCDC) published on July 21 its sixth data-rich analysis of COVID-19 spread in Georgia.

The report tracks the progress of the virus, shedding new light on the size and the scope of the outbreak, from the date of the first recorded case until July 1, 2021.

Civil.ge offers a quick summary of insights and highlights the key revelations from the report.

Georgia reported its first case of infection on February 26. To date, confirmed cases have reached 395,621, while the death toll stands at 5,636. Total recoveries amount to 369,483 and the number of active cases stands at 20,476.

COVID-19 patient profile

Georgia’s chief public health authority provided a breakdown of data collected from 367,058 people infected with COVID-19 as of July 1.

More women than men – 58% and 42 %, respectively – were infected by the virus.

Among all confirmed cases, the largest amount (19%) was in the 30-39 age group, while the lowest amount (2%) was in the 75-79 age group.

Case fatality rate remained low, sitting at 1.4% by the end of June, with 5,327 deaths attributed to COVID-19. 52.3% of the COVID-related deaths were men, while 47.7% were women. 

In 71.7% of fatal cases, the disease was severed with underlying pneumonia, down from 98.2% reported in the NCDC’s fifth review.

The share of deceased COVID patients that had comorbidities decreased to 49.5% from 62.2% of total fatalities. Of those with comorbidities, 28.3% had cardiovascular diseases, 17% – hypertension, 17.3% – diabetes, 3.6% – oncologic diseases and 2.4% – chronic lung diseases.

Vaccination Drive

As of July 1, Georgia had administered overall 265,246 doses of COVID-19 vaccines, with 103,678 persons fully vaccinated since the March 15 rollout. Those fully vaccinated were 3.6% of the adult populace.

46% of the persons who received two jabs were from the 18-49 age group. The least vaccinated age groups were 50-54 and 75+, with 8% each. 45% of full vaccination courses were administered in the capital of Tbilisi.

Of the 103,678 persons fully vaccinated, 5,906 were medical personnel.

There were 607 cases of undesirable effects following vaccination, of which only 88 were serious, according to the report. 326 of the cases were reported after receiving AstraZeneca jab, 111 after Sinopharm, 91 after Pfizer and 79 after Sinovac.

How contagious is the virus?

As of July 1, the rate of cumulative incidence – measuring disease frequency during a given period of time in the population – was at 9,844 infected persons per 100,000, up from 6,145 reported by the end of 2020.

Tbilisi, the Georgian capital, reported the highest amount of infected persons per 100,000 – 13,421, while Samtskhe – Javakheti region recorded the lowest – 3,695.

Effective reproduction number, another key benchmark wielded by epidemiologists, equaled 1.18 at the end of the reporting period. The number increased from 0.62% reported by the end of 2020, but is significantly lower than the record amount, 2.25, of September 2020. 

Taking stock of COVID-19 testing

From January 30, 2020, to July 1, 2021, 6,015,070 COVID-19 tests were carried out in Georgia, of which 3,055,418 were PCR and 2,959,652 were antigen tests. Laboratories operating under NCDC, including the Lugar Research Center, performed 23% of the PCR tests. 

Notably, the test-positivity rate – showing the ratio between who got tested for the virus and who tested positive for it – came in at 6.1% as of July 1. 

NCDC estimated that as of July 1, 7% of people infected with COVID-19 were healthcare personnel.

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