Coronavirus In Georgia: Retired Janitor’s Funeral Cited As Ground Zero

A retired janitor’s funeral in southern Georgia may have been the source for the COVID-19 outbreak in Albany. Family and friends flocked to the funeral home to celebrate the life of the deceased, only for the virus to suddenly go up within weeks after the wake.

It wasn’t sure how this happened, but CNN reported that the cluster of coronavirus cases appeared to start after the funeral of 64-year-old Andrew J. Mitchell. To be fair, another man’s funeral is also being suspected as the cause of everything, according to Dougherty County Council Chairman Chris Cohilas.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the city listed 490 confirmed coronavirus cases reported in Dougherty County and at least 29 deaths related to the sickness, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health. There are 20 reported cases attributed to those who attended at least one of the mentioned funerals.

Fox News reported that Georgia holds one of the biggest clusters of the virus in the country. Gov. Brian Kemp and Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Kathleen E. Toomey reported on the cases in the Albany area, citing it as an example of why a statewide shelter-in-place ruling should be considered necessary these days.

Gov. Kemp also cited the funeral, while reports coming in revealed that a fourth of all deaths from COVID-19 in Georgia happened in the Albany area. The Phoebe Healthcare system tally also reported 33 deaths as of Wednesday. Phoebe added 685 positive cases of coronavirus to the tally, with at least more than a thousand people waiting for their results.

A spokesperson of the Georgia Department of Health acknowledged the rate of the virus spread. They even said that it was due to some individuals who attended certain events that happened in Albany. No mention of the two funerals, however, ever came in the statement.

Kemp deployed the local National Guard medical teams to the Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital, the healthcare facility with the most patients. More than 100 additional Guard troops had also been sent to long-term care facilities throughout the state with the most positive COVID-19 cases.