UPDATE: Rabun has 139 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 3 deaths
Health, News March 31, 2020
July 23 update: RABUN COUNTY, Ga – Georgia Department of Public Health now lists the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases as 139 and three deaths.
According to the DPH data, the deceased patients were a 68-year-old, white female who had underlying conditions, 37-year-old, white female, with no underlying conditions, and an 82-year-old, white male with underlying conditions. No other details were released about the individuals.
Also, 24 Rabun County residents have been admitted to a hospital for COVID-19 treatment.
Counties surrounding Rabun:
- Towns – 94
- Habersham – 904
- Macon, N.C. – 424
- Clay, N.C. – 49
- Oconee, S.C. – 615
Currently, DPH isn’t releasing recovery data in its reports. However, it should be noted that the majority of confirmed Rabun cases aren’t hospitalized – meaning they are probably recovering at home or experiencing mild symptoms.
July 22 update: RABUN COUNTY, Ga – Georgia Department of Public Health now lists the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases as 134 and three deaths.
According to the DPH data, the deceased patients were a 68-year-old, white female who had underlying conditions, 37-year-old, white female, with no underlying conditions, and an 82-year-old, white male with underlying conditions. No other details were released about the individuals.
Also, 24 Rabun County residents have been admitted to a hospital for COVID-19 treatment.
Counties surrounding Rabun:
- Towns – 85
- Habersham – 890
- Macon, N.C. – 415
- Clay, N.C. – 41
- Oconee, S.C. – 585
Currently, DPH isn’t releasing recovery data in its reports. However, it should be noted that the majority of confirmed Rabun cases aren’t hospitalized – meaning they are probably recovering at home or experiencing mild symptoms.
June 23 update: RABUN COUNTY, Ga – Georgia Department of Public Health now lists the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases as 36 and three deaths.
According to the DPH data, the deceased patients were a 68-year-old, white female who had underlying conditions, 37-year-old, white female, with no underlying conditions, and an 82-year-old, white male with underlying conditions. No other details were released about the individuals.
Also, 14 Rabun County residents have been admitted to a hospital for COVID-19 treatment.
Counties surrounding Rabun:
- Towns – 36
- Habersham – 644
- Macon, N.C. – 256
- Clay, N.C. – 9
- Oconee, S.C. – 142
Currently, DPH isn’t releasing recovery data in its reports. However, it should be noted that the majority of confirmed Rabun cases aren’t hospitalized – meaning they are probably recovering at home or experiencing mild symptoms.
June 17 update: RABUN COUNTY, Ga – Georgia Department of Public Health now lists the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases as 33 and three deaths.
According to the DPH data, the deceased patients were a 68-year-old, white female who had underlying conditions, 37-year-old, white female, with no underlying conditions, and an 82-year-old, white male with underlying conditions. No other details were released about the individuals.
Also, 15 Rabun County residents have been admitted to a hospital for COVID-19 treatment.
Counties surrounding Rabun:
- Towns – 35
- Habersham – 612
- Macon, N.C. – 236
- Clay, N.C. – 9
- Oconee, S.C. – 95
Currently, DPH isn’t releasing recovery data in its reports. However, it should be noted that the majority of confirmed Rabun cases aren’t hospitalized – meaning they are probably recovering at home or experiencing mild symptoms.
June 15 update: RABUN COUNTY, Ga – Georgia Department of Public Health now lists the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases as 32 and three deaths.
According to the DPH data, the deceased patients were a 68-year-old, white female who had underlying conditions, 37-year-old, white female, with no underlying conditions, and an 82-year-old, white male with underlying conditions. No other details were released about the individuals.
Also, 14 Rabun County residents have been admitted to a hospital for COVID-19 treatment.
Counties surrounding Rabun:
- Towns – 35
- Habersham – 596
- Macon, N.C. – 231
- Clay, N.C. – 9
- Oconee, S.C. – 61
Currently, DPH isn’t releasing recovery data in its reports. However, it should be noted that the majority of confirmed Rabun cases aren’t hospitalized – meaning they are probably recovering at home or experiencing mild symptoms.
June 11 update: RABUN COUNTY, Ga – Georgia Department of Public Health now lists the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases as 30 and two deaths.
According to the DPH data, the deceased patients were a 68-year-old, white, female who had underlying conditions and an 82-year-old, white male with underlying conditions. No other details were released about the individuals.
Also, 12 Rabun County residents have been admitted to a hospital for COVID-19 treatment.
Counties surrounding Rabun:
- Towns – 32
- Habersham – 576
- Macon, N.C. – 159
- Clay, N.C. – 8
- Oconee, S.C. – 61
Currently, DPH isn’t releasing recovery data in its reports. However, it should be noted that the majority of confirmed Rabun cases aren’t hospitalized – meaning they are probably recovering at home or experiencing mild symptoms.
June 3 update: RABUN COUNTY, Ga – Georgia Department of Public Health now lists the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases as 23 and one death.
According to the DPH data, the deceased patients were a 68-year-old female who had underlying conditions. No other details were released about the individuals.
Also, eight Rabun County residents have been admitted to a hospital for COVID-19 treatment.
Counties surrounding Rabun:
- Towns – 24
- Habersham – 530
- Macon, N.C. – 89
- Clay, N.C. – 8
- Oconee, S.C. – 48
Currently, DPH isn’t releasing recovery data in its reports. However, it should be noted that the majority of confirmed Rabun cases aren’t hospitalized – meaning they are probably recovering at home or experiencing mild symptoms.
May 27 update: RABUN COUNTY, Ga – Georgia Department of Public Health now lists the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases as 17 and back to one death.
Twice now DPH has reported multiple COVID-19 related deaths in Rabun only to drop the number back to one.
According to the DPH data, the deceased patients were a 68-year-old female who had underlying conditions. No other details were released about the individuals.
Also, six Rabun County residents have been admitted to a hospital for COVID-19 treatment. This is one down from previous reports.
Counties surrounding Rabun:
- Towns – 23
- Habersham – 511
- Macon, N.C. – 18
- Clay, N.C. – 8
- Oconee, S.C. – 48
Currently, DPH isn’t releasing recovery data in its reports. However, it should be noted that the majority of confirmed Rabun cases aren’t hospitalized – meaning they are probably recovering at home or experiencing mild symptoms.
May 18 update: RABUN COUNTY, Ga – Georgia Department of Public Health now lists the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases as 15 and two deaths. This is the first DPH confirmed increase in cases since May 9.
According to the DPH data, the deceased patients were a 68-year-old female who had underlying conditions and a 25-year-old female with no underlying conditions. No other details were released about the individuals.
Also, five Rabun County residents have been admitted to a hospital for COVID-19 treatment. This is one down from previous reports.
Counties surrounding Rabun:
- Towns – 21
- Habersham – 455
- Macon, N.C. – 5
- Clay, N.C. – 8
- Oconee, S.C. – 41
Currently, DPH isn’t releasing recovery data in its reports. However, it should be noted that the majority of confirmed Rabun cases aren’t hospitalized – meaning they are probably recovering at home or experiencing mild symptoms.
May 9 update: RABUN COUNTY, Ga – Georgia Department of Public Health now lists the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases as 14 and one death.
Cases could see a rapid increase because, on Friday, May 8 DPH opened testing up to all Georgians, whether they show symptoms or not. Anyone who wants to be tested needs to contact their local health department.
According to the DPH data, the deceased patient was a 68-year-old female who had underlying conditions. Also, five Rabun County residents have been admitted to a hospital for COVID-19 treatment. This is one down from previous reports.
Counties surrounding Rabun:
- Towns – 20
- Habersham – 386
- Macon, N.C. – 3
- Clay, N.C. – 8
- Oconee, S.C. – 29
Currently, DPH isn’t releasing recovery data in its reports. However, it should be noted that the majority of confirmed Rabun cases aren’t hospitalized – meaning they are probably recovering at home or experiencing mild symptoms.
May 4 update: RABUN COUNTY, Ga – Georgia Department of Public Health now lists the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases as 13 and one death.
According to the DPH data, the deceased patient was a 68-year-old female who had underlying conditions. Also, five Rabun County residents have been admitted to a hospital for COVID-19 treatment. This is one down from previous reports.
Counties surrounding Rabun:
- Towns – 19
- Habersham – 355
- Macon, N.C. – 3
- Clay, N.C. – 5
- Oconee, S.C. – 27
Currently, DPH isn’t releasing recovery data in its reports. However, it should be noted that the majority of confirmed Rabun cases aren’t hospitalized – meaning they are probably recovering at home or experiencing mild symptoms.
May 1 update: RABUN COUNTY, Ga – Georgia Department of Public Health added another COVID-19 case to Rabun County’s tally bringing it up to 14 total.
No other details were provided. According to the DPH data, six Rabun County residents have been admitted to a hospital for COVID-19 treatment.
Counties surrounding Rabun:
- Towns – 22
- Habersham – 326
- Macon, N.C. – 3
- Clay, N.C. – 5
- Oconee, S.C. – 24
April 30 update:
RABUN COUNTY, Ga – Georgia Department of Public Health added another COVID-19 case to Rabun County’s tally bringing it up to 13 total. Also, the previously listed death has disappeared from the report.
No other details were provided. According to the DPH data, five Rabun County residents have been admitted to a hospital for COVID-19 treatment.
Counties surrounding Rabun:
- Towns – 21
- Habersham – 257
- Macon, N.C. – 3
- Clay, N.C. – 5
- Oconee, S.C. – 24
April 28 update:
RABUN COUNTY, Ga – Georgia Department of Public Health added another COVID-19 case to Rabun County’s tally bringing it up to 12 total. Also, as of 12 p.m. on April 28, the DPH provided notification of one COVID-19-related death in the county.
No other details were provided about the new case or death. According to the DPH data, four Rabun County residents have been admitted to a hospital for COVID-19 treatment.
Counties surrounding Rabun:
- Towns – 21
- Habersham – 212
- Macon, N.C. – 2
- Clay, N.C. – 5
- Oconee, S.C. – 24
April 27 update:
RABUN COUNTY, Ga – Georgia Department of Public Health added another COVID-19 case to Rabun County’s tally bringing it up to 10 total.
No other details were provided about the new case. According to the DPH data, four Rabun County residents have been admitted to a hospital for COVID-19 treatment.
Counties surrounding Rabun:
- Towns – 20
- Habersham – 119
- Macon, N.C. – 2
- Clay, N.C. – 5
- Oconee, S.C. – 24
April 22 update:
RABUN COUNTY, Ga – Georgia Department of Public Health added another COVID-19 case to Rabun County’s tally bringing it up to nine total.
No other details were provided about the new case.
Counties surrounding Rabun:
- Towns – 19
- Habersham – 130
- Macon, N.C. – 2
- Clay, N.C. – 5
- Oconee, S.C. – 19
April 8 update:
RABUN COUNTY, Ga – Georgia Department of Public Health added another COVID-19 case to Rabun County’s tally bringing it up to six total.
On the Rabun County EMA Facebook page, they asked the public to, “Please make sure you are staying home and let’s try and keep this number down.”
Health Department District Two also issued a letter on April 8 urging people to only travel when necessary and informed the public that some district staff has been reassigned to aid with contact tracing.
The letter also said that nurses are contacting individuals who might test positive and providing them with a course of action. This is the same procedure for any infectious disease. It didn’t address telling the public at large if a positive case attended any gatherings or events before developing symptoms.
Original story and April 7 update below:
RABUN COUNTY, Ga – In Georgia Department of Public Health’s (DPH) April 7, 12 p.m. report, it confirmed that Rabun County has five cases of COVID-19.
The reports don’t provide details about individuals. Fetch Your News will update the story as information becomes available. Please keep the patient and their family in your thoughts and prayers.
Georgia now has 8,818 cases and 329 deaths.
Rabun County Board of Commissioners declared a state of emergency on Sunday, April 5.
In March, Clayton and Dillard announced city-wide closures for on-premise dining.
Towns County which neighbors Rabun has two cases. Habersham to the south has six confirmed cases.
Macon County, N.C. to the north has one case and one death. Clay County, N.C. has three cases. N.C.’s COVID-19 report is released daily by 11 a.m.
Oconee County, S.C. has eight confirmed cases as of April 6 at 4 p.m.
However, medical professionals have stated that Georgia and many states are almost a week behind on processed tests. It’s likely that more cases will be recorded as the labs catch up. Fetch Your News (FYN) has chosen to report only on cases confirmed by DPH, even though these aren’t necessarily to-the-minute because of lab backlogs. FYN’s also contacting other sources to gain more information.
Stay with FYN as we bring you up-to-date news about the spread of the virus in North Georgia and Western North Carolina. See the latest numbers here.
Rabun County becomes a Second Amendment Sanctuary
Featured Stories, News, Politics, Uncategorized January 28, 2020
RABUN COUNTY, Ga – Following the lead of several other North Georgia counties, Rabun County Board of Commissioners passed a Second Amendment Sanctuary resolution during the Jan. 28, 2020 meeting.
Several citizens spoke in favor of the resolution including elected officials and former members of the armed forces during public commentary.
Sheriff Chad Nichols spoke on behalf of the resolution, “I’m gonna get on my soap box for just a minute. There’s been a lot of debate and a lot of things passed in our country and the most controversial are the red flag laws. I don’t agree with those. The way they’re being passed in other areas of course is a Second Amendment violation and also a Fourth Amendment and Fifth Amendment, due process and search and seizure. I feel the state should be putting more money toward mental health than gun control. I think that is one of the biggest issues in the country, and that’s kinda my two cents on that… [I’m] here to support the Second Amendment and defend it for citizens here in our county.”
Lynn Cash from Tiger, Ga commended the commissioners, “I appreciate the opportunity that this gives me to be sure that I can pass the legacy of hunting and shooting and spending time with my family in a field to my grandchildren.”
Ed Henderson, the secretary of the Rabun County Republican Party also voiced support and talked about Rainy Mountain Scout Camp, where teenagers and kids learn marksmanship and gun safety. Henderson asked for the county to remain “strong and resolute” because the Second Amendment is more than a “reference to Boston minutemen and musket rifles. It is a living part of our constitution.”
Heath Wittle wanted to know if the resolution offered any consequences if someone tried to force-ably take guns out of the home. He felt that if the resolution had “no teeth,” then it isn’t worth the paper, it’s written on.
One resident spoke up to warn the public about the potential fear factor with resolutions like these. “Don’t let the fear take over and work with your legislatures on what the Sheriff is talking about. Also, there is not enough information. They don’t know how it affects mental health because the NRA is extremely powerful…You have to be careful with the fear and not allow this to drive you to do things that aren’t in your best interest…Figure out how to keep people safe in Rabun County and still protect your Second Amendment Rights.”
Wade Williams, a retired Army Colonel, also served as a detractor for the sanctuary resolution and quoted Supreme Court Justice Antony Scalia. “I think this document here, well intended, does not do one thing to make any resident of this county safer. If you want to make somebody safer, you close the gun show loop holes, you expand background checks,” said Williams.
A retired Air Force Colonel asked, “What does it mean to be a Second Amendment Sanctuary County? People think they know, but I’m not exactly sure.”
“You can find this online, the CDC, FBI, US Department of Justice, they still believe: I’m trying to rob this man, he has a gun, he has effectively stopped that crime. So you want to be safe, unfortunately, you need to protect yourself, you need to train yourself, stated Matt Brewer.
Fetch Your News is reaching out to the commissioners in Rabun County to learn more about the content in the resolution and the reasoning behind it.