With a significant rise in COVID-19 cases in Georgia in recent weeks, Gov. Brian Kemp on Monday extended the state’s public health emergency for a third time.
The current declaration was to have expired on Tuesday, but in a new executive order Kemp on Monday said he was extending it to Aug. 11 (you can read it here).
In another executive order on Monday, Kemp banned public gatherings of 50 people or more unless they can keep at least six feet apart and imposed other social distancing restrictions. Those requirements include regular and in some cases increased sanitizing measures.
“As we continue our fight against COVID-19 in Georgia, it is vital that Georgians continue to heed public health guidance by wearing a mask, washing their hands regularly, and practicing social distancing,” Kemp said in a statement. “We have made decisions throughout the pandemic to protect the lives —and livelihoods—of all Georgians by relying on data and the advice of public health officials.”
The social distancing order, which begins on Wednesday and continues through July 15 (you can read it here) outlines mandatory criteria for businesses and requires those living in long-term care facilities and the medically fragile to continue to shelter in place.
Georgia has had a record number of COVID-19 cases reported for three days running, with 2,207 positive tests on Monday, and a relatively high positivity rate (number of positive cases to the number of tests) of 13.4 percent.
(The Georgia Department of Public Health COVID Daily Status Report is updated every day at 3 p.m.)
On Sunday, the new positive cases statewide totaled 2,225, and the seven-day average of 2,207 over the last week is 60 percent higher than the previous week.
The number of COVID-related deaths in Georgia is 2,784, a mortality rate of 0.2 percent and that represents 3.5 percent of the 79,417 confirmed cases.
The death rate has flattened out in recent weeks, with six new deaths being reported since Sunday, and the hospitalization rate in Georgia also is holding steady, with 113 more reports of a cumulative total of 10,824.
In Cobb County, there have been 4,713 cases in all, and last week (June 22-28) a record 685 cases were reported.
On June 20, there were a reported 108 new cases in Cobb, a single-day high. Another 83 cases were reported last Monday. By Saturday there were 34 new cases, and Monday’s total is nine more than Sunday.
The test positivity rate in Cobb is 5.74 percent, according to Cobb and Douglas Public Health, which publishes its own daily tracking data.
Cobb has the second-highest death total in the state, with 242 fatalities, though none were reported on Monday.
Kemp also is embarking on a statewide tour to encourage people to wear masks in public, but unlike governors in other states, he is not mandating it.
Related Content
- More than 40 COVID deaths reported in East Cobb
- The East Cobb Open for Business Directory
- East Cobb News COVID-19 Resource Page
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Why not wait until the numbers go down to put our children back in school. Or at best three days a week or staggered. I feel it is irresponsible . Especially the way flu went through the school last year. In one week we had 10 kids out of the classroom. Then one right after another , including the teacher whom ended up with pneumonia.
This is bad waiting to get worst, and to say kids do not get this, tell that to the parents of the ones who have. Make mandates not requirements, that way everyone is on the same page.