As she hinted last week, Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid has extended a declaration of emergency regarding COVID-19 until mid-February.
A current emergency declaration was to have expired on Friday. A message sent out by the county late Thursday afternoon said that the new order is “for another 30 days but will be reevaluated if the surge eases.”
She cited the continuing spread of the virus, and specifically the Omicron variant, and the impact to local hospitals for her new order.
“Cases remain well above high community spread, and until we get those numbers down we need to encourage residents to take precautions; to continue wearing masks, watching their distance, and washing their hands,” Cupid said. “Those precautions are outlined in this order.”
Cobb and Douglas Health reported Thursday that the 14-day average of COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people is 1,993, a drop from a figure of more than 2,500 last week.
That’s still excessively beyond the “high” transmission threshold of 100 cases per 100K.
The order keeps the county’s emergency operations plan in place and calls for continuing portions of public meetings online.
That includes a Cobb Board of Commissioners work session and regular meeting next Tuesday.
The county statement Thursday said that mask requirements and social distancing guidelines that have been in effect in county government facilities will expire at the end of the month.
But “that could also change if circumstances warrant it.”
The mask mandate applies to all indoor county facilities, including libraries and recreation centers.
It does not apply to private or non-county buildings, nor the Cobb County School District.
County courthouses continue to operate under a mask mandate ordered by the Georgia Supreme Court.
Related posts:
- Cobb to distribute COVID test kits Sunday
- Cobb keeping aquatic center restrictions despite protests
- Cobb government to issue 60K in-home COVID-19 tests
- Cobb and Douglas Public Health opens more COVID-19 test sites
- Cobb jury trials paused in Cobb through Jan. 21
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