Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said Thursday afternoon he has no plans—at least for now— to force businesses to close, or to impose mandatory curfew or quarantine statewide to contain the spread of the Coronavirus.
In prepared remarks and in answering selected media questions from his office, Kemp said he is leaving it up to local officials “to take appropriate actions for their communities.”
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has forced restaurants to close off dining room service, allowing them to provide only pickup and takeout services. She’s also cancelled any event with 10 or more people, following public health guidance.
State and local officials in other states are also taking similar measures, especially in high population areas, to combat Coronavirus, or COVID-19.
Kemp said he’s reluctant to do that, not just because of the economic consequences, but also because he said Georgians were heeding public health messages to practice social distancing, wash hands and take other precautionary measures.
His announcement comes as the number of cases in Georgia skyrocketed on Thursday, from 287 confirmed cases, up from 146 on Wednesday.
The death count also jumped in the last day, from three to 10. Four of those deaths have taken place in Dougherty County, where four people died at a hospital there.
Only one death, the first in Georgia, has taken place in Cobb, at Wellstar Kennestone Hospital.
Kemp also urged churches and other faith communities to conduct their services online. A Cartersville church has been linked to 18 COVID-19 cases due to having in-house worship. On Thursday, news outlets in Northwest Georgia reported that a member of the Church at Liberty Square, a 65-year-old woman, died at a hospital in Rome from respiratory failure.
Another member of that church, a school principal in Cave Spring, near Rome, was hospitalized, and his wife was on life support at Emory Hospital in Atlanta.
Related stories
- Cobb cases jump to 37; 10 deaths reported in Georgia
- Cobb, MUST to offer student breakfasts and lunches
- Cobb Police limiting responses on certain calls
- Georgia Coronavirus count nears 200, 28 in Cobb
- More closings: Movie theaters, restaurants, retail
- Seed/Stem/Drift restaurants closing temporarily
- Johnson Ferry, Mt. Bethel UMC team up for food drive
- Cobb Schools, MUST Ministries to open food pantries
- Cobb public health to offer limited Coronavirus testing
- Cobb government to go into ‘limited operations status’
- East Cobb restaurants scramble to offer non-dining room service
- Georgia Milestones, other state school testing suspended
In response to a media question, Kemp was asked if he expects the number of cases to go “way up.”
“I absolutely do,” he said, noting that the more people are tested, the more positive tests will result.
He also stressed what his office has been saying for the last few days—that testing for Coronavirus for now will be prioritized for vulnerable groups as well as health care providers and first responders.
“The best way to serve the public is to protect those who are protecting us,” he said.
He said state officials are trying to get more test kits in Georgia.
Dr. Kathleen Toomey, the Georgia Department of Public Health commissioner, said currently the state has 500 test kits, and that we’ll be getting “a large number” of additional test kits.
A private lab has been conducting about two-thirds of the 1,800 tests done in Georgia thus far, with DPH doing the rest.
The Georgia DPH also has set up a new hotline for Coronavirus at 1-844-442-4681.
DPH is getting ready to open satellite test centers across the state, similar to a spot that opened at Jim Miller Park in Cobb County on Wednesday.
That drive-up service is available only to those who have been pre-approved for the tests.
The state is setting up a separate facility in middle Georgia as a quarantine spot for patients who test positive.
Kemp said 209 passengers of a cruise ship that had been stationed off the San Francisco coast are still being quarantined at Dobbins Air Reserve in Cobb. A total of 487 passengers were transported there; the governor said those remaining will be able to go home when it is deemed safe for them to do so.
Another location being used for quarantine purposes is the former Radisson Hotel on the South Marietta Parkway at I-75. Patients going there are those from metro Atlanta who have tested positive for COVID-19 but don’t require medical attention.
“Despite all of the unknowns, we are preparing for any scenario,” Kemp said.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
