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Abstract:
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Georgia is among the states most affected by the pandemic. Through a mutually-beneficial collaboration between Emory University and the Georgia Department of Public Health (GDPH), our team undertook a number of studies in support of GDPH’s response. To highlight a few of these: by analyzing and modeling surveillance data, we identified superspreading and the outsize role of young people in transmission; we showed that healthcare workers’ main risks were in the community, rather than occupational; we found that mortality rates have declined starting in summer 2020, and not just because the epidemic started to affect younger people and those living outside of nursing homes. However, Georgia’s response to the pandemic has been controversial. The state was amongst the first to reopen, despite high incidence. And the state has, at times, proffered misleading data on the pandemic. But, through this collaboration, we’ve been able to bring a group of academic epidemiologists to assist our colleagues at the state health department to perform independent analyses. The collaborations have led to insights about the local epidemiology as well as universal characteristics of SARS-COV-2.
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