Georgia health officials reported more than 1,000 new confirmed cases of coronavirus on the same day that state Governor Brian Kemp lifted its stay-at-home order for most residents.
Kemp, a Republican, lifted the state’s stay-at-home order on Friday, but said elderly and medically-fragile residents should continue isolation through June 12. He had previously allowed some non-essential businesses to reopen starting April 24.
On Friday afternoon, the Georgia Department of Public Health revealed that 27,134 confirmed coronavirus cases were reported in total – about 1,000 more cases than had been reported just 24 hours beforehand, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Georgia Governor Brian Kemp lifted the stay-at-home order on Friday, but had previously allowed non-essential businesses to slowly reopen on April 24. Diners are seen at a Waffle House on April 27 in Atlanta
Among the non-essential businesses allowed to reopen were nail salons (pictured April 25), tattoo parlors and massage therapy practices
People walk through Atlanta’s Inman Park on Friday, after the stay-at-home order was lifted
The health officials also reported 40 confirmed coronavirus-related deaths on Thursday, raising the state’s virus death toll to at least 1,147.
Kemp has faced criticism for moving to reopen Georgia too quickly, while the number of coronavirus cases were still increasing.
The White House’s coronavirus task force had advised that states could start reopening after seeing 14 days of declining coronavirus case reports and rates of people reporting virus symptoms.
Among the businesses Kemp allowed to open on April 24 were hair and nail salons, bowling alleys, gyms and massage-therapy centers. Restaurants and movie theaters were allowed to reopen on Monday.
All of these businesses were told they could reopen with ‘minimum basic operations’ and that they should deploy safety measures including checking staff for temperatures and respiratory illnesses, as well as increasing sanitation efforts, wearing masks and gloves and practicing social distancing in work stations, Business Insider reported.
Kemp encouraged Georgians to continue to stay at home if they’re able to and to wear masks in stores and when near other people.
When the non-essential business ban was lifted, President Trump tweeted: ‘I (or @VP) never gave Governor Brian Kemp an OK on those few businesses outside of the Guidelines. FAKE NEWS! Spas, beauty salons, tattoo parlors, & barber shops should take a little slower path, but I told the Governor to do what is right for the great people of Georgia (& USA)!’
Kemp has faced criticism for allowing the stay-at-home order to expire and reopening non-essential businesses, like barbershops (pictured April 25) to reopen for economic reasons
A diner is seen putting in his order at a Waffle House in Savannah, Georgia, on April 27
While saying that businesses could reopen, he also encouraged people to continue to practice social distancing and wearing of masks, among other safety measures. Staffers at a Waffle House are shown modeling their masks on April 27
Several days prior to Kemp’s decision, South Carolina Senator Lindsay Graham, had tweeted in part that ‘I worry that our friends and neighbors in Georgia are going too fast too soon.’
Graham, a Republican, also tweeted: ‘We respect Georgia’s right to determine its own fate, but we are all in this together. What happens in Georgia will impact us in South Carolina.’
Kemp told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Thursday that lifting the stay-at-home order made sense for a number of reasons.
He said that the stay-at-home measures, which started April 3, ‘worked’ and had ‘given us time to build our hospital infrastructure capacity, get ventilators and ramp up testing. That’s what really drove our decision.’
He also noted that coronavirus had impacted elderly state residents at a far higher number than younger, healthier ones, and that the impact of the stay-at-home and non-essential business bans was having too great an economic impact on the state.
‘I felt like the negative effects of not having our economy starting to open up was beginning to have the same weight as the virus itself, especially if you weren’t in the medically fragile category or someone in a long-term care facility,’ Kemp said. ‘For most of the rest of Georgia, the effect has been minimal.’
The majority of coronavirus diagnoses – one in five – have been linked to nursing homes and long-term care facilities. Those places were also associated with two in five deaths.
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has been outspoken about her disagreement with Kemp’s decision to reopen the state so quickly.
In an op-ed for The Atlantic Wednesday, Bottoms wrote, ‘Reopening the state and relaxing social-distancing measures now is irresponsible and could even be deadly.’
She noted that ‘Our hospitals may not be stretched to capacity, but that does not mean we should work to fill the vacant beds. I strongly believe that our health-care system is not overwhelmed because we have been socially distancing.
‘And while staying at home may be inconvenient for many people, there is nothing essential about going to a bowling alley during a pandemic. We need to continue to do whatever it takes to keep the number of cases from rising.’