Just before noon Tuesday, the Georgia Department of Public Health said the number of cases of COVID-19 in the state had grown to 146.

The cases are mostly in metro Atlanta and in northwest Georgia, according to the state Department of Public Health. One person -- a 67-year-old man -- had died from the disease.

Two positive cases in East Georgia, along the South Carolina border, were reported for the first time.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the state increased by 25 in 24 hours.

In the report, health officials say that 40% of confirmed cases involve people age 60 or older, people who the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said are at a higher risk of getting very sick from the illness. The World Health Organization has estimated a 21.9% mortality rate for those over 80 who are infected with the virus.

Over the weekend, Gov. Brian Kemp declared a public health emergency for Georgia. The declaration allows resources to be marshaled for the treatment and mitigation of the virus.

Later on Saturday, state election officials announced that Georgia’s March 24 presidential primaries would be postponed until May because of fears over the new coronavirus.

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On Sunday, Southeast Georgia schools began announcing closures starting this week. By Monday, Kemp ordered all public schools and colleges closed for the rest of the month. That puts a temporary halt to education for 1.8 million students. The state university system immediately said all classes would move online.

“This measure is critical to reducing local transmission in communities across our state,” Kemp said in a statement Monday evening.

In Atlanta, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms declared a state of emergency within the city limits, banning large public gatherings of more than 250 people until March 31.

An interactive map of Georgia’s identified coronavirus patients shows they are highly concentrated around metro Atlanta.