Kemp won’t extend Georgia’s shelter-in-place order for most residents. Here’s more.
Gov. Brian Kemp’s shelter in place order for most Georgians expires at midnight, but medically fragile and elderly individuals are required to stay at home through June 12.
Kemp extended his shelter in place order for these “vulnerable” populations. You must shelter in place through June 12 if:
- You’re 65 years old or older
- You live in a nursing home or long-term care facility
- You have chronic lung disease
- You have moderate to severe asthma
- You have severe heart disease
- You are immunocompromised
- You are have Class III or severe obesity
- You have diabetes, liver disease or chronic kidney disease undergoing dialysis
Georgians who don’t fall into those categories are encouraged to continue social distancing through mid-May.
Kemp’s initial shelter-in-place order, which went into effect April 3, was extended until April 30 to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in Georgia.
“I want to thank the people of our great state who heeded public health advice, afforded us time to bolster our healthcare infrastructure, and flattened the curve. We were successful in these efforts, but the fight is far from over,” Kemp said in a statement.
All Georgians are still required to practice social distancing guidelines, which vary by business type.
The main social distancing guidelines released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are to maintain a distance of six feet between people, do not gather in groups and avoid mass gatherings and crowded places.
“I will do what is necessary to protect the lives – and livelihoods – of our people. I will formally extend our public health state of emergency through June 12, 2020 to continue enhanced testing across Georgia, ramp up contact tracing, and maintain effective emergency response operations in every region,” Kemp said in a statement.
Kemp faced criticism from President Donald Trump and local Georgia communities for his decision to start reopening Georgia. Kemp announced April 20 that businesses, such as gyms, bowling alleys and barbers, could open their doors while practicing social distancing guidelines.
Kemp tweeted on Tuesday that Georgia has a total of 2,846 ventilators and only 992 ventilators were being used making Tuesday the lowest day for ventilator use in Georgia and that the Georgia Emergency Management Agency received 15,000 test kits to be sent out to testing sites.
Georgia has had 26,155 people test positive for COVID-19 and 1,120 people die from the virus, according to the most recent Georgia Department of Public Health report.
Nearly 150,000 people have been tested for the virus in Georgia, but Georgia has lagged behind most other states in testing per capita.
Kemp announced that Tuesday was a record testing day with nearly 13,000 tests administered in Georgia.
This story was originally published April 30, 2020 at 3:17 PM.