Georgia has reopened a surge facility in Atlanta for new coronavirus patients as cases in the state spike.
Gov. Brian P. Kemp announced the surge facility set up at the Georgia World Congress Center will begin receiving COVID-19 patients Aug. 3. The facility will initially have 60 beds available for COVID-19 patients but has the capacity to expand to 120 beds if needed. Atlanta-based Grady Memorial Hospital will lead clinical oversight at the convention center.
Surge beds were first set up at the Georgia World Congress Center in April, according to The Augusta Chronicle. Only a handful of recovering COVID-19 patients received care at the facility in the initial months of the pandemic, after which it was dismantled.
The reopened COVID-19 surge facility will have the staff and equipment needed to care for coronavirus patients more severely ill than those the facility was set up for in April.
On July 31, the state reported that there were nearly 3,200 people receiving care in Georgia hospitals, but critical care beds were 86 percent full, The Augusta Chronicle reports.