How a small Georgia city far from New York became one of the worst coronavirus hotspots in the country
- Albany, Georgia is facing the fourth-worst outbreak of coronavirus per-capita in the United States.
- The small city is three hours south of Atlanta, and saw its hospital overrun by patients in recent weeks.
- Two funerals likely sparked the spread, but how the disease got to Albany in the first place remains a mystery.
- Mayor Bo Dorough called for a stronger federal and state response so that other towns can avoid Albany’s fate.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Other than its name, Albany, Georgia has next to nothing in common with New York.
The 75,000-person town is 40 miles from the nearest interstate, its link with Atlanta, some three hours’ drive north. And the county in which it’s located, Dougherty — dotted with 19th-century plantations and modern farms — already scores well below most other Georgia counties’ health outcomes.
Yet as the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread throughout the United States, Albany has been thrust into the national spotlight alongside new metropolitan peers.
Cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, hit 967 in Albany on Tuesday, according to Johns Hopkins University researchers. It’s a number dwarfed in size by New York City’s more than 157,000 or New …continued .
[Source: Business Insider]