Although one of the common symptoms of COVID-19 is a loss of taste and smell, an extreme sensitivity to salt was the first sign Judge Jimmie Brown had that he would be one of the 752,448 Georgians to test positive for the disease.

The next day, the superior court jurist from Americus had a fever and chills. Two days later, after a 15-hour wait in an emergency room, Brown became one of the 50,323 Georgians to be hospitalized.