ATLANTA — Nearly 8,000 employees in the Georgia trucking industry have died of COVID-19, making it the hardest-hit industry in the state during the pandemic.
New data assembled by the Georgia Department of Health for WSB-TV shows that 7,707 employees identified as having jobs in the transportation or moving materials occupation had died of COVID-19 as of Sept. 2021.
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A total of just over 30,000 Georgians have died since the start of the pandemic.
People employed in trucking account for 25% of COVID-19 deaths in the state.
It’s unclear why the trucking industry experienced such a high mortality rate. Data on vaccination rates among truckers and transportation employees has not been released.
The next hardest-hit industry is in production operations, in which just over 2,500 employees have died of the virus.
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When deaths are broken down by industry, manufacturing was the hardest hit with 3,912 deaths reported. Healthcare was next with 2,461 COVID-19 deaths reported.
Data also shows that 1,780 school workers have died of the virus and nearly 1,000 accommodation and food services workers have died.
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COVID-19 deaths by major occupation category:
Transportation and Material Moving: 7,707
Production: 2,560
Office and Administrative Support: 2,401
Management: 2,313
Sales and Related: 1,916
Construction and Extraction: 1,683
Education, Training, and Library: 1,170
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical: 1,104
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair: 1,100
Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance : 1,021
COVID-19 deaths by major industry in Georgia:
Manufacturing: 3,912
Health Care and Social Assistance: 2,461
Construction: 1,974
Retail Trade: 1,973
Transportation and Warehousing: 1,880
Education Services: 1,780
Other Services: 1,560
Public Administration: 1,460
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