Georgia residents are under a shelter-in-place order and school is canceled for the rest of the academic calendar following a week of new developments in response to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
All Georgia residents were ordered to shelter in place until April 13 to help slow the spread of COVID-19. Gov. Brian Kemp signed the order last Thursday. The order took effect last Friday. On Wednesday morning, April 8, Kemp, Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan and House Speaker David Ralston announced plans to extend the public health emergency to May 13.
It allows residents to leave their homes to conduct essential business, maintain minimal business operations or to obtain necessary supplies.
Three Hart County residents are confirmed to have tested positive for COVID-19 as of the Georgia Department of Public Health’s Tuesday status report. Statewide 348 people had died from the virus and 1,899 residents had been hospitalized, while 9,156 people had tested positive for the virus. More than 33,000 people have been tested in Georgia. Neighboring Franklin County has three confirmed cases as well, while Stephens County has 13 positive cases. Elbert County saw its first two positive cases confirmed this week. Madison County now has nine total cases and one death from the virus.
Kemp’s order supercedes any local orders or ordinances already in effect throughout the state. The Hart County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously on Friday to draft an emergency declaration in support of Kemp’s order.
To enforce the statewide shelter-in-place order, Kemp issued another order Friday deputizing all Sheriffs of the state and authorized them to “enforce the closure of businesses, establishments, corporations, nonprofit corporations or organizations” not complying with the shelter-in-place order.
Businesses ordered to cease operations include bars, nightclubs, gyms, fitness centers, hair salons, bowling alleys, theaters and live performance venues, to name a few.
Restaurants that offer delivery, takeout or curbside pickup must close their dining rooms and maintain social distancing practices.
Critical infrastructure, or essential businesses and organizations, are required to follow social distancing guidance from state and federal authorities. Under federal guidelines, critical infrastructure includes health care sectors, law enforcement and first-responder agencies, food and agriculture industries, energy companies, water and sewer utilities, trucking, public transit, information technology and more. A complete list of critical infrastructure and essential businesses can be found online at www.thehartwellsun.com; www.dhs.gov; or www.hartcountyga.gov.
Residents are permitted to leave their homes to obtain necessary supplies, engage in activities essential to health and engage in outdoor exercising activities as long as a minimum of six-feet of distance is maintained between those not living in the same household.
SCHOOLS
Public schools were ordered closed for the rest of the academic year by Kemp last Wednesday. The Hart County Charter System announced that its graduation ceremony is postponed, not canceled. In a statement released on Thursday, the school system said a graduation date will be established and announced once public gatherings are permissible again and online learning and grading will continue until the last scheduled day of the academic year on May 15. New work packets will be picked up from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Monday, April 13, or Tuesday, April 14, at students’ assigned schools.
The school system will still be giving out free meals to children ages 18 and younger, but the process is slightly changing. Starting Monday, April 13, meals can be picked up from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Those participating will receive two days worth of meals on Mondays and Thursdays, according to the school system.
MASKS
RECOMMENDED
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain, such as at grocery stores. The recommendation comes following recent studies that suggest a significant portion of individuals with coronavirus lack symptoms and that those who eventually develop symptoms can transmit the virus to others before showing symptoms.
A deputy at the Hart County Sheriff’s Office and an inmate at the Hart County Jail were tested for the virus, but the results came back negative, sheriff Mike Cleveland confirmed this week.
MEDIA MARKET
MODIFICATION
United States Rep. Doug Collins sent a letter to the Federal Communications Commission on Friday urging the agency to provide immediate access to in-state programming for Northeast Georgia’s “orphan counties”, who currently receive broadcast news from North and South Carolina stations. Collins wants Georgians to be able to receive critical state-specific updates in the midst of the pandemic. Nearly 94,000 residents in Hart, Franklin, Elbert and Stephens counties all receive their local television news from neighboring states, something Collins has pushed to change and now wants to expedite the process during a public health
crisis.
STATE PARKS
State parks are still open, the Department of Natural Resources confirmed this week. The DNR is encouraging social distancing while at the parks and has the authority to shut down any gatherings of 10 or more people not maintaining the six-foot social distancing requirement.
JUDICIAL EMERGENCY
Georgia Chief Justice Harold Melton on Monday extended the statewide judicial emergency in effect because of the coronavirus pandemic until May 13. The emergency was declared on March 14 and was originally set to expire on April 13.
VIRUS IN THE AREA
Ten patients at a nursing home in Athens, PruittHealth–Grandview, who were presumed positive COVID-19 cases died, the nursing home announced Tuesday. On Monday alone, 75 people died from the virus in Georgia. The youngest death in Georgia so far was a 29-year-old woman from Peach County. It is unknown whether or not she had underlying health conditions.
Neighboring Hart County in Anderson County, S.C., there are now 75 positive cases of COVID-19 and four related deaths.
Experts are saying there is a “super surge” of patients yet to arrive. Dr. Colleen Kraft, an associate chief medical officer at Emory University Hospital, said this week that hospital workers are “definitely gearing up” for an even tougher fight ahead.
The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation estimates the state’s peak resource use will be on April 20 and predicts Georgia will face a shortage of 282 ICU beds.