Lumpkin County Sheriff Stacy Jarrard and armed robbery victim Brianna Ray Weaver announce ask for the community's help to find the man who held Weaver and a co-worker at gunpoint. A $10,000 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest and conviction. (LCSO Facebook)
A $10,000 reward is now being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the man who robbed a North Georgia gold mine shop at gunpoint.
According to the Lumpkin County Sheriff’s Office, the suspect entered the Crisson Gold Mine store on Morrison Parkway just before 4:30 p.m. on February 3 and pulled a gun on two employees. He threatened to harm them if they called police. The suspect got away with an undisclosed amount of valuables including cash, jewelry, and gold nuggets.
“We do have some leads,” says Lumpkin County Sheriff Stacy Jarrard but investigators are looking for more information. Jarrard posted a video to the sheriff’s office Facebook page this week announcing the reward and asking anyone with information to please come forward.
“We have some people who have donated $10,000 for the arrest and conviction,” he says. “Call me anytime day or night and give us any information that might not seem like much to you but it might mean a lot to us.”
‘A very dangerous person’
The sheriff appeared in the video along with Brianna Ray Weaver, daughter of the Crisson Gold Mine owners and one of the workers who was robbed.
“If someone can point a gun at her, they’re a very dangerous person and we need to get that person help,” the sheriff says. “So, call us because we need to get ’emoff the streets because they will hurt someone if we do not get ’em in custody soon.”
Weaver added, “We’d appreciate any information that you can give to the sheriff’s department. I’d hate for this to happen to anyone else.”
Surveillance cameras captured images of the suspect. (LCSO)
He was wearing a black Cincinnati Bengals jacket. (LCSO)
(LCSO)
Surveillance video captured images of the suspect. Officials describe him as a white male, 5’7″ to 5’10” tall, weighing approximately 225 pounds. He was wearing a black Cincinnati Bengals jacket, ball cap, black mask, light-colored blue jeans, and black boots and was carrying a black duffel bag.
Anyone with information about this crime should contact the Lumpkin County Sheriff’s Office at 706-482-2622 or Sheriff Stacy Jarrard directly at 706-300-6648.
The Honorable Robert Bryan Struble, Sr. age 90, of Toccoa, passed away Friday, February 18, 2022.
Funeral services will be held Tuesday, February 22nd at 12:00 P.M. at St. Matthias Episcopal Church with The Reverend Scott Harding officiating. Interment will follow at Stephens Memorial Gardens.
The Habersham County Board of Education honored two school employees Monday during their monthly meeting with the Peach State Credit Union Service Above Self and the Extra Mile Awards. These two awards are given to school faculty and staff who go “above and beyond” to improve the lives of Habersham County students.
The Habersham Central High School administration nominated business and computer science and yearbook teacher, Ms. Selena White, for the Extra Mile Award. (Hadley Cottingham/Now Habersham)
The Habersham Central High School administration nominated business and computer science and yearbook teacher, Ms. Selena White, for the Extra Mile Award. She goes beyond expectations in helping the student body create and manage their yearbook, teaching students about design and ad sales in the class and producing award-winning yearbooks. Last year’s yearbook, titled “Uncharted,” was named the best yearbook in the state by the Georgia Scholastic Press Association.
“Mrs. White gives much time and energy into teaching her students all of
the steps in producing a yearbook,” BOE member Joey Duncan said. “Mrs. White deserves to be recognized as going ‘The Extra Mile’ as the yearbook teacher.”
Assistant Principal Kevin Weems at Cornelia Elementary nominated Grace Garcia, school custodian, for the Service Above Self Award. (Hadley Cottingham/Now Habersham)
Assistant Principal Kevin Weems at Cornelia Elementary nominated Grace Garcia, school custodian, for the Service Above Self Award. Garcia serves as not only a custodian dedicated to keeping Cornelia Elementary a safe place for students to enjoy, but also a translator and friend to the school’s English language learner (ELL) students.
“When Ms. Garcia sees a student who is struggling, she takes time away from her custodial duties to make sure that they are okay, consoles them and helps ensure that their needs are met,” BOE member Robert Barron said. “She helps our Spanish-speaking students express their needs in situations where the teacher does not know a second language. She also helps our teachers clarify instructions for our ELL students, improving their chances
for successfully accomplishing what has been asked of them.”
Garcia’s actions have helped students learning English thrive in their school, helping with communication in and out of the classroom.
“While it is not her job to provide translation services for teachers and students, she does so with enthusiasm and a desire to improve the educational environment for both,” Barron said. “Through it all, Ms. Garcia smiles and makes our students feel welcome and safe. The students know that they have someone who can make their voices heard even though they might not fully grasp the English language. Ms. Garcia has truly made Cornelia Elementary
‘her’ school.”
The Peach State Credit Union presented the awardees with gifts and a $100 gift card, as well as a certificate of their award.
Some GOP lawmakers are betting horse racing could boost the state economy, but others worry about side effects like gambling addiction and crime. (Taylor Sondgeroth/Unsplash)
(GA Recorder) — A suite of bills designed to legalize horse racing in Georgia got a boost Thursday from a study suggesting that allowing Georgians to bet on races could bring more than a billion dollars in new revenue to the state.
But the perennial push to expand the state’s gambling options faced withering criticism from detractors who say racetracks will empty Georgians’ bank accounts and increase the rate of gambling addiction.
Gambling is illegal in Georgia, with the exception of bingo, raffles and the Georgia Lottery, which funds the HOPE Scholarship and pre-kindergarten programs. The state constitution specifically outlaws parimutuel betting, the system used by most race tracks, so bringing races to Georgia would likely require a constitutional amendment, which requires the support of two-thirds of members in both legislative chambers and the governor’s signature before voters could get the final say at the ballot box.
Adding race tracks to that list of approved gambling options has been a hobbyhorse for some lawmakers for years now, who argue that legal horse betting will help the state’s agriculture industry and net a tidy sum for Georgia’s treasury. Republican Sens. Brandon Beach of Alpharetta and Jeff Mullis of Chickamauga each have offered a pair of bills designed to start the process.
A new Georgia Southern University study found that building three tracks around the state will generate an economic impact of $1.28 billion and bring more than 8,500 new jobs.
That money could help alleviate some of the state’s chronic issues, according to Mullis, chair of the Senate Rules Committee and author of a horse-racing bill, making his pitch to the Senate Regulated Industries Committee Thursday.
“I believe it will be good for Georgia, and it will help Georgia, and you never know what could be connected, a horse hall of fame in Macon, or rural health care or HOPE scholarships or other things,” the Chickamauga Republican said. “But the main thing is it will provide lots of jobs, good jobs, not ill-repute jobs, but good jobs for people of Georgia.”
Sen. Jeff Mullis. (Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder)
The Georgia equestrian industry already contributes $545.5 million and 7,212 jobs to the state economy, said Ben McKay, assistant director of research at Georgia Southern’s Center for Business Analytics and Economic Research.
“The Georgia horse industry is already strong, all horse racing will do is help to make it stronger and to become a bigger part of the agricultural industry,” he said. “Really, this industry works with parimutuel betting to make it more exciting.”
But those figures leave out the human cost, said John Kindt, a gambling critic and former professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
“A gambling addiction is like drug and opioid addiction,” he said. “According to the American Psychiatric Association, it’s officially designated as such in the diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. The mental health impacts are huge since they affect not only the addictive and problem gamblers, but like other addictions, they affect seven to 17 other people, and like other addictions, racino slot machines will cause significant increases in suicides, child abuse, spousal abuse, bankruptcies, property crimes, sex-related crimes.”
“Racino,” a portmanteau of race and casino, is a term used to describe race tracks that also offer other gambling opportunities like slot machines. Kindt said for many race tracks, attendance is chronically low, and owners make most of their money through the machines rather than the races.
“I don’t have a problem with the pari-mutuel wagering, it’s slot machines, slot machines, slot machines, and the industry knows that. They’re the crack cocaine,” he said. “That’s where the money comes in.”
Georgia’s potential race tracks would likely have such alternate forms of gambling, said Sen. Billy Hickman, a Statesboro Republican who raises horses to race in other states.
“I really believe that the parimutuel betting could survive on its own, but you wouldn’t have the quality of races,” he said. “Georgia is so well known be the (best state) in the nation to do business in, well, we also would want these facilities to be the best in the nation also, I think you’ve got to have other forms of money to supplement the horses.”
One of the proposed bills allows for historic racing machines, which are legally distinct from slot machines, Hickman said, comparing them to coin-operated amusement machines which are legal and found in Georgia gas stations and arcades.
“Whereas slot machines, which are random number generator winners, these machines, they are machines, and these machines are based on 100,000 prior horse races,” he said. “And so they tell us that those are not slot machines, just like the COAM machines are not slot machines.”
Macon Republican Sen. Bill Cowsert, chair of the Regulated Industries Committee, did not seem persuaded there was a difference.
“They look like them and sound like them and cost the same and pay out the same, they just calculate what’s going to come up on the dial by an algorithm that fed in 100,000 previous races?” he asked.
“That’s correct,” Hickman said.
“So if you were an autistic savant genius and knew the winner of every race in the history of sports racing, that would not help you win or lose on these machines?” he asked
“I don’t know the answer to that,” Hickman said.
Other committee members seemed to indicate support, questioning whether legalized horse racing would be substantively different from other forms of legal gambling in the state like the Georgia Lottery or church raffles.
Sen. Brandon Beach. (Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder)
Sen. David Lucas, a Macon Democrat, compared it to bolita, a type of underground lottery he said was once popular among members of the Black community.
“You paid a penny, two pennies or three pennies,” he said. “And my grandmama, she had no mental problems, she lived a nice life, but she played bolita.”
“The only thing you worried about if you hit it big was whether or not the number man was going to pay you your money because you couldn’t go to the police about it,” he added with a laugh.
No vote was scheduled for the meeting, and Cowsert was noncommittal about the bills’ futures.
“Sen. Beach, sorry we didn’t have time on this schedule for you go into details of the bill, we’ll save that, we will conclude public input with this hearing, and if we have time in our schedule, we’ll try to have an additional hearing for you to go into the nuts and bolts of your legislation, Sen. Mullis as well,” he said.
GHP semi-finalists From left to right: Annabell Bailey of Alto, Walker Bailey of Lula and Seungwook "Daniel" Shin of Seoul, South Korea.
A trio of Tallulah Falls School students has been named semi-finalists for the Georgia Governor’s Honors Program (GHP).
According to the website, GHP is a residential summer program for gifted and talented high school students who will be rising juniors and seniors during the program. The program offers instruction significantly different from the typical high school classroom. It is designed to provide students with academic, cultural and social enrichment necessary to become the next generation of global critical thinkers, innovators, and leaders.
Junior Walker Bailey of Lula was named in the area of Mathematics; sophomore Annabelle Jackson of Alto was named in the area of Visual Arts and junior Seungwook “Daniel” Shin of Seoul, South Korea, was named in the area Mechanical & Electrical Engineering.
“We are thrilled to celebrate a high-achieving group of students once again,” said Upper School counselor Michelle Barron. “The Governor’s Honors Program offers these students an incredible opportunity to excel in an area of greatest potential.”
State-level semi-finalists’ interviews will take place on February 26 at Berry College, with finalists being named on March 25.
This photo combo shows, from left, Travis McMichael, William "Roddie" Bryan, and Gregory McMichael during their trial at at the Glynn County Courthouse in Brunswick, Ga. Jurors on Wednesday, Nov. 24, 2021 convicted the three white men charged in the death of Ahmaud Arbery, the Black man who was chased and fatally shot while running through their neighborhood in an attack that became part of the larger national reckoning on racial injustice. (Credit: Pool, file via AP)
A police officer testified Thursday at the federal hate crimes trial of the three men convicted of murdering Ahmaud Arbery that the 25-year-old man had repeatedly entered a home under construction but didn’t take anything.
Glynn County Police Officer Robert Rash took the stand after an FBI analyst testified Wednesday that two of the defendants frequently used racial slurs in U.S. District Court in the port city of Brunswick. Arbery was fatally shot just outside the city limits nearly two years ago. The white men who pursued him pleaded not guilty to violating his civil rights and targeting him because he was Black.
Rash said the owner of the unfinished home had sent him security camera videos of a young Black man, later identified as Arbery, and a white couple entering the construction site in the months leading up to Arbery’s death. The officer said that if he had made contact with any of them, he would have warned them that the homeowner did not want them on the property and that if they were found there again they would be arrested for trespass.
Father and son Greg and Travis McMichael were aware that a young Black man had been seen in the unfinished home. When Arbery ran by their home, five doors down from that property, on Feb. 23, 2020, they grabbed guns and pursued Arbery in a pickup truck. William “Roddie” Bryan, a neighbor, joined the pursuit and recorded video of Travis McMichael blasting Arbery with a shotgun.
No arrests were made until the graphic video leaked online two months later and Arbery’s killing became part of a larger national reckoning over racial injustice.
All three men were convicted of murder last fall in a Georgia state court and sentenced to life in prison.
FBI analyst Amy Vaughan testified that Travis McMichael repeatedly used the N-word and other racist slurs in text messages and social media in the months and years before the killing. They included posts describing violence against Black people.
Greg McMichael, posted a Facebook meme stating “Irish slaves” in America were mistreated more than any group in the nation’s history, but investigators were unable to download evidence from his encrypted cellphone.
Bryan also used slurs in a number of electronic messages, including several sent on Martin Luther King Jr. Day that mocked the holiday devoted to the civil rights leader.
Defense attorneys denounced their racist messages as offensive and indefensible, but said their deadly pursuit was motivated by an earnest, though erroneous, suspicion that Arbery had committed crimes.
The Georgia Department of Education announced applications are open for qualified teachers to receive a $3,000 tax credit for the next five years. The Teacher Recruitment Tax Credit is an effort by state officials to retain more teachers.
Teachers at 100 participating schools are eligible under legislation passed in 2021. The program focuses on 100 rural and underperforming schools and high needs subject areas.
State Superintendent Richard Woods said retention has been an issue since he first took office.
“I think we’ve remained pretty consistent that for every two teachers that go into the profession, by Year Five, we probably lose one,” he said.
Woods also advocates for teacher pay raises, increased support for new teachers, and allowing school districts to utilize retired teachers. Rural areas have been hit especially hard by teachers leaving the profession, so new incentives are also focused on recruiting teachers to serve those areas.
This article appears on Now Habersham through a news partnership with GPB News
Some Habersham citizens are criticizing the City of Baldwin’s radar cameras outside of Baldwin Elementary School in the school zone, calling them a speed trap and revenue source for the city.
The cameras in the school zone, operated by Blue Line Solutions, send a $100 ticket to people going more than 11 miles per hour over the speed limit within the school zone. Since the system began generating tickets, the city has received $190,050 in ticket revenue after Blue Line takes 35 percent of the paid ticket. Those funds have been used for initiatives to improve the city’s public safety departments.
Now, the school superintendent and the city’s police chief are responding.
In compliance with the law
Baldwin Police Chief Jeff Branyon says that much of the information Parrish shared in the meeting was misleading.
Parrish told the council he believed the city is illegally running the speed cameras because the city does not have a 24/7 police department, which he says Georgia law requires cities who run radar speed-checking technology to have. He also said that people were not able to contest the tickets they received from the third-party agency that issues them.
Branyon says Parrish’s comments about not being able to contest a ticket in the city’s municipal court aren’t true, and that contesting school zone tickets is a regular occurrence in the Baldwin Municipal Court. He went on to say that the city is in compliance with state laws surrounding radar usage, contrary to Parrish’s comments to the council.
Baldwin Police Chief Jeff Branyon (Hadley Cottingham/Now Habersham)
“[The law] does state that you have to have 24-hour coverage, or, and that’s the word that I think he’s neglecting, or full-time employed certified officers who are speed certified, and that we have an on-call status when there’s somebody not here,” Branyon said. “We meet those requirements under the department of public safety regulations. I have discussed this with the department of public safety, we’ve also discussed it with our city legal counsel. We are in compliance with state law.”
Parrish suggested to the council that they put a Baldwin Police Officer in charge of monitoring the school zone for speeders, and while Branyon says the department could do that, they have limited resources.
“I have one or two officers on duty at a time,” Branyon said. “So if that one officer is parked there running speed detection, then they’re not patrolling neighborhoods, are not answering calls for service. They’re not serving any other parts of the community.”
He says the school zone is “a force multiplier,” he doesn’t have to have an officer there for school zone speed enforcement.
“In a perfect world, I’d love to have an officer that could sit in every school zone every day, we just don’t have the resources to do that, Branyon said. “The Blue Line cameras are a . . . force multiplier. It gives me another officer handling an enforcement issue that’s not on my payroll so that my officers are freed up to answer other calls.”
Cheif Branyon says the school zone works, he says that he sees cars slowing down near the school, which is the goal.
“Keeping students safe”
Habersham Schools Superintendent Matthew Cooper says former Baldwin Police Chief Charlie Webb approached him about the school zone as a way to deter drivers from speeding near the school. While Cooper says that he and the Board of Education had nothing to do with the Blue Line cameras being installed— other than his signature on a Georgia Department of Transportation form— he says he supported the police department’s efforts then, and he does now.
“The school system had no contact or agreement with the company that installed the cameras and we play no role in the collection or handling of the tickets that are issued,” Cooper said. “I simply made the decision as superintendent to support the City of Baldwin in their effort to make the school zone safer. That decision was made by me, not the board of education.”
Cooper says he and Baldwin Elementary School Principal Rodney Long believe the school zone makes the road running by the elementary school a safer place for the students and staff on the playground, campus and walking to and from campus.
Habersham County School Superintendent Matthew Cooper (Hadley Cottingham/Now Habersham)
“The playground is not the only issue in the school zone,” Cooper said. “We have parents who sometimes walk their children across that busy road to get to the school. We have parents, staff, and visitors who use the school zone in the mornings, throughout the day, and in the afternoons.”
Some have suggested the school move all recess to the playground behind the school, but Cooper says the students at Baldwin Elementary need both the back and front playgrounds, and that the playground “will stay where it is.”
Cooper says the school zone is for the protection of students, and that from his standpoint, the only people complaining about the school zone are the ones that got caught speeding in it. He says he won’t apologize for keeping students safe.
“I have no more sympathy for those who speed in a school zone than I do for those who pass a stopped school bus,” Cooper said. “In my ten years as superintendent, I have never apologized for keeping students or staff safe. Part of my job as superintendent is to keep our students safe, and I put a great deal of effort into that responsibility.”
A 30-year old Cleveland man faces several charges after police say he failed to stop for a Cleveland officer early Thursday.
A news release for White County Sheriff’s office said White County Deputies assisted the Cleveland Police Department in an early morning traffic stop, around Highway 129 at the Appalachian Parkway.
According to officials, Cleveland police officers attempted to stop a vehicle just before 4 a.m. on some traffic offenses. The vehicle failed to stop and turned onto Albert Reid Road, “traveling at a high rate of speed.”
The driver lost control of his vehicle around the 1600 block of Highway 75 Alternate, leaving the roadway and coming to rest in a ditch.
The driver, identified as Jared Cowen Richardson of Cleveland, left the vehicle and was later apprehended behind a nearby residence. The driver was evaluated by White County EMS and then transported to the White County Detention Center.
Richardson faces charges from both Cleveland Police and White County Sheriff’s office.
The cast of Habersham Community Theater's "Flaming Idiots" brings hilarity to the Kollock stage Feb. 17-20 and 24-27. Pictured in back, left to right, are Karen Loos, Matthew Teutsch, David McNeill White, Daniel Purcell, Jonathan Zeke Smith, and Jack Molnar. Lying down in center of the stage is Dan Griswold and in front are Ronny Chappelear and Katie Thompson. (HCT photo).
It’s opening night for “Flaming Idiots” at the Habersham Community Theater, a contemporary family-friendly farce complete with the perfect blend of comedic timing, slapstick humor and underpants.
Phil (left), played by David McNeill White and his business partner get into a series of comedic unfortunate events. (Hadley Cottingham/Now Habersham)
Directed by Chris Bryant, the comedy follows two entrepreneurs, Phil (David McNeill White) and Carl (Daniel Purcell), who open a restaurant after a financially unfulfilling post office career. While they might like the idea of raking in the dough, they lack the business skills and smarts to run a restaurant and soon find themselves struggling to pay the bills.
A nearby competitor restaurant has long-held popularity due to its mobster history with a murder occurring right inside— and like any sane business owners, Phil and Carl wonder if murder could boost their business, too. As the two work through the ins and outs of business and hiring hitmen, hilarity ensues.
Daniel Purcell who plays Carl in the HCT Production of “Flaming Idiots” has been involved with the Habersham County Theater for over 15 years. (Hadley Cottingham/Now Habersham)
This is HCT’s first production of the new year and the first full-on comedy in a while. The most recent production was A Christmas Carol in December. Before that, the theater featured a large ensemble cast in the drama-comedy Big Fish.
This production is different in that it has a limited cast – ten, including female understudy Jubilee Chastain – and a single set; it takes place entirely in the restaurant kitchen and requires five doors for slamming.
Jonathan Zeke Smith plays Eugene, an aspiring actor waiting for his big break. (Hadley Cottingham/Now Habersham)
The audience will meet over-the-top characters, like Eugene (Jonathan Zeke Smith), a struggling actor who’s afraid to perform, Officer Task (Matthew Teutsch), an aspiring investigator with no observational skills, and Jayne Fryman (Katie Thompson), a reporter wearing too many hats and not enough pants, who will leave them laughing until the curtains close.
This is Bryant’s directorial debut at HCT, and she’s pleased with the overall product. She says her cast and crew have worked together amid production chaos to put the show together, and put their own silly spins on the show’s characters.
White says that one of the reasons he loves this show, other than it being down-right fun, is it’s one his children can see him perform in.
“The big thing for me with this show is that we didn’t have to change anything in the script,” White told Now Habersham. “It’s already clean and family-friendly. I love that. . . my kids came to see the show last night, they’re 8 and 5 [years old].”
Katie Thompson plays reporter Jayne Fryman, known for her skirts and love of on-the-house beverages. (Hadley Cottingham/Now Habersham)
Bryant encourages the community to see the comedy for themselves.
“It’s a really funny show,” she says. “They [the community] need to come watch it. It’s not going to be something everybody’s familiar with, but I think if they come see it, they’ll be pleased that they did.”
Flaming Idiots runs Feb. 17-19 and Feb. 24-26 at 7:30 p.m., with two matinee shows on Feb. 20 and Feb. 27 at 2:00 p.m. To purchase tickets, click here.
The City of Cleveland has announced that Lisa Ritchie has been selected as the sole finalist for the position of city clerk. The announcement was made during a called city council meeting Wednesday night.
Richie currently serves as Hall County Clerk, a position she has held since 2014.
Cleveland Mayor Josh Turner said, “We are thrilled that Ms. Ritchie will be coming on board as City Clerk. Her experience working in local government makes her an ideal candidate for the position.”
The Cleveland clerk position has been vacant since former clerk Connie Tracas was appointed finance director after the death of long-time finance director Beth Allen last August.
In July 2021, Ritchie turned down an offer from the Habersham County Commission to return to her old job as county clerk after Lindsay Underwood resigned. Ritchie held the position prior to working for Hall County. The commission voted 3-1 to hire her. Sources told Now Habersham that Ritchie was reluctant to accept a position for which she was not unanimously approved, among other reasons.
Her first day on the job as Cleveland City Clerk will be March 28.
Dean Dyer of WRWH Radio contributed to this report
COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are dropping off across the state and locally, data from state and national agencies show.
Statewide, cases have dropped 90 percent since the surge at the beginning of January. The Georgia Department of Health reported that during the case surge at the beginning of 2022, the state logged around 21,269 COVID-19 cases. The latest statewide report shows 1,948 cases.
Data from District 2 Public Health shows similar trends in the majority of Northeast Georgia’s counties, with cases dropping significantly in 11 of the 13 counties the district covers. Towns and Union Counties are seeing cases spike again.
Habersham County’s cases have dropped about 36 percent from the holidays to now. (Source: D2PH)
Vaccination rates are rising statewide, according to data from the Center for Disease Control (CDC). Habersham’s vaccination rate has increased slightly from the beginning of the year, rising from 41 percent of citizens being fully vaccinated to 42 percent being fully vaccinated.
Cases are dropping off in Habersham County Schools, too. Habersham County Schools Director of Nursing and Health Services, Crystal Holcomb, reported a total of 11 COVID-19 cases system-wide last week, with 7 student cases and 4 total staff cases. 8 of Habersham’s 14 schools are completely case-free.
Even with cases dropping, the GDPH says that vaccination is important.
“Georgians who were unvaccinated or partially vaccinated were 1.4 times more likely to test positive for COVID-19 and 5.9 times more likely to die from COVID-19,” the agency said in a Tweet.
