It's all people in the Coastal Empire are talking about--the Governor announcing he was reopening the state on Friday with consulting the state's mayors. The response has been decidedly mixed.
Georgia mayors said they were alarmed by the governor’s decision to reopen the economy this week, as the state joined several others in planning to relax restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of Covid-19. The mayor of Savannah called the decision “reckless, premature and dangerous”. Ignoring public health experts’ warnings that reopening too quickly could cause another spike in cases, Georgia governor Brian Kemp, a Republican, said on Monday some businesses in the state could reopen this week. From Sunday to Monday evening, 86 people in Georgia died of Covid-19. There is no widespread testing for the virus in the state, which epidemiologists say is necessary for safe reopening. The mayor of Atlanta, Georgia’s biggest city, said Kemp’s decision was not based on “anything logical”.“We see our numbers are continuing to tick up in this state, we see that our deaths are rising,” said Keisha Lance Bottoms, a Democrat. “We have some of the highest asthma rates in the country right here in Atlanta.”She later issued a statement insisting city residents stay inside. The Democratic mayor of Savannah, Van Johnson, said ending the lockdown was “reckless, premature and dangerous”.“People can see it for themselves” Johnson told CNN. “We want them to keep the faith, but we want them to follow the science. This is still a dangerous time. This is not the time for people to take their feet off the gas.”Kemp said businesses including bowling alleys, tattoo studios and hair salons would reopen this week if they met safety standards and enforced social distancing. Movie theaters and restaurants could reopen on Monday. Georgia’s public health commissioner, Dr Kathleen Toomey, said emergency rooms were seeing fewer flu-like illnesses. She said the state would increase contact tracing, the practice of identifying people who have had close contact with someone who tests positive for Covid-19.