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Gov. Brian Kemp offered additional steps to help Georgia hospitals and encourage — but not require — state employees to get vaccinated amid a surge in coronavirus cases.

Kemp held a news conference Monday afternoon with Georgia Department of Public Health Commissioner Kathleen Toomey to discuss these steps and answer questions.

It comes as Georgia’s case count continues to rise, fueled by the much more contagious delta variant among people who haven't been vaccinated.

Hospitals are again inundated with coronavirus patients, and many have warned they don't have enough beds and staff. Northeast Georgia Health System was treating almost 200 COVID-positive patients Aug. 16 and expects to surpass its January record of 355 by early September.

The number of COVID-19 patients in hospitals statewide climbed to nearly 4,300 over the weekend, and more than 88% of the state’s ICU beds were in use. The vast majority of COVID patients are unvaccinated. Only 41% of Georgia’s population is fully vaccinated, well below the national average. In Hall County, 37% are fully vaccinated.

The state's seven-day rolling average of new cases climbed above 6,000 on Friday, the worst since Feb. 1.

Schools, meanwhile, are struggling to keep classrooms open as exposures to COVID-19 infections force many students and teachers to quarantine. School districts in Burke, Crisp, Long and Ware counties announced Friday that they would send students home, bringing the number of districts that have done so to nine.