Gov. Kemp issues new COVID-19 executive order. Here’s what changed:
Gov. Brian Kemp signed a new executive order Wednesday extending Georgia’s coronavirus restrictions, making only slight changes to the rules.
Kemp’s office identified only two changes to the coronavirus restrictions in a news release announcing the new order:
- Citing CDC guidance, restaurant and bar employees may return to work once they have been fever- or symptom-free for 24 hours following “a known or suspected positive COVID-19 diagnosis.”
- Certain SAT and ACT standardized test score deadlines tied to the state’s HOPE and Zell Miller scholarships eligibility were extended.
The new order extends the various safety, sanitation, distancing and other related requirements for bars, restaurants and other businesses across the state. Gatherings of more than 50 people are banned unless social distancing can be practiced. Local governments are still allowed to enact mask mandates if their county reports 100 or more COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people over a 14-day period.
Shelter in place requirements remain for residents of long-term care facilities and Georgians with certain underlying medical conditions. However, visitors are allowed at long-term care facilities if certain public health reopening guidelines tied to cases, testing and other metrics are met.
State health officials have not said if any long-term care facilities in the state are beyond the first phase of reopening where visitation is more limited. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports those rules were recently updated to match federal guidance from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The new order will take effect at midnight, Oct. 1 and expire Oct. 15 at 11:59 p.m. Kemp also renewed Georgia’s public health state of emergency through Nov. 9. Many city and county mask mandates, including the one in Bibb County, are tied to Kemp’s public health state of emergency declaration.
The extension of COVID-19 restrictions comes as Georgia falls out of the coronavirus red zone for newly reported cases, according to the latest White House coronavirus task force report. More than a month ago, Georgia led the nation in weekly cases per person. The state’s current seven-day average for new cases is around 1,192, a decrease of nearly 70% from its highest point in July, a McClatchy analysis found.
The latest White House task force report recommends residents limit their gatherings to 20 or fewer people. However, Kemp told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution a day before issuing the new order that he would not impose further gathering restrictions, citing advice from state health commissioner Dr. Kathleen Toomey that Georgians might reject it.
“It’s a great idea, but people are over that. One of the things that Dr. Toomey and I have tried to do is to make sure that we’re putting things out there that people can buy into,” he said. “And to go backwards on that, I just don’t think people are going to comply with it.”
As of Sept. 30, Georgia reported 318,026 COVID-19 cases and 7,021 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
This story was originally published September 30, 2020 at 10:53 AM.