Kemp issues shelter-in-place order for all of Georgia after initially resisting move
Citing data that showed Georgia needs more time to prepare for a surge of coronavirus cases and hospitalizations, Gov. Brian Kemp said he will issue a statewide shelter-in-place order during a press conference Wednesday.
The order is set to take effect Friday and expire April 13. Kemp also closed all K-12 schools in the state for the remainder of the school year. Classes will continue to take place online. Exact details of the shelter order were not given during the press conference, but the order will be published online.
During the Wednesday press conference, Kemp cited “game changer” information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showing that people, including those without symptoms, could spread coronavirus earlier than previously known.
“New models show that Georgia will need more time to prepare for hospital surge capacity,” Kemp said. “While we are making excellent progress, with our team, we’ve got to be more aggressive.”
Other orders of this nature across the country allow exemptions for “essential actions” such as trips to health care facilities, grocery stores and other food markets, banks and other places including hardware stores, Time Magazine reports. Similar exemptions will be made for Georgia residents, Kemp said.
In a speech using imagery that evoked scenes of warfare, Kemp pleaded with Georgians to follow guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“We are in this fight together,” Kemp said. “To win the war, we have to hunker down and continue to chop a lot of wood.”
Kemp also asked that Georgia residents not panic following the announcement of the order.
“We don’t need to be afraid,” Kemp said. “The grocers are ready for this. ...People don’t need to worry about buying for two weeks or two months. Leave some for the other folks.”
The order is more expansive than previous efforts Kemp has made to curb the spread of COVID-19. Using emergency powers granted to him by the Georgia General Assembly, Kemp closed schools, bars, nightclubs and banned gatherings of more than 10 people in small spaces. Georgia’s most medically-at-risk residents were ordered to remain home.
But he had previously stopped short of a shelter-in-place order for the entire state. In the days that followed, Kemp defended his decision, saying he had more “arrows in his quiver” should the situation worsen. Large localities within the state, like Atlanta, had already issued strict orders to stay at home.
State health officials reported 5,348 cases of COVID-19 and 163 deaths noon Thursday.
This is a breaking news story and will update.
This story was originally published April 1, 2020 at 4:49 PM with the headline "Kemp issues shelter-in-place order for all of Georgia after initially resisting move."