GERALD GREENE: Elected officials work to protect citizens from virus

This past week was a hard week as I worked with our state senator, Freddie Powell Sims, to assist our state, regional, and local leaders to provide the needed resources for our area. The rural areas are now becoming the hot spots for this virus as it spreads in the district. If there is one thing we have learned from history, it is that we have not learned. The Spanish flu killed millions after World War I and was spreading through contact with one another. This is the same situation with the COVID-19 virus.

The answer to this dilemma is why distance spacing and no contact is so important to stop the virus from spreading. Wear those mask and gloves, stay away from large gatherings such as funerals and parties. Stay away from the elderly, but check on their needs. Call your friends and neighbors to break days of isolation.

Gov. Kemp has worked tirelessly to protect the citizens of Georgia. The governor extended his emergency powers given by the Georgia legislature to strengthen his shelter-in-place order for the state. All non-essential persons are ordered to shelter in place except to buy groceries, health and pharmacy visits, or any personal emergency. Essential workers will be out working to save lives and putting their own lives at risk in grocery stores, pharmacies and hospitals, among them law enforcement personnel and firemen, to name a few.

Please help law enforcement by staying isolated and at your residence. This emergency order is through April 13. After that date, elected leaders will determine if more emergency measures will be taken to ensure the well-being of our citizens.

Many of you have asked about the May 19 election. I know that you have received or will receive an application for an absentee ballot. The unanswered question at this point is whether the election will proceed as planned or be postponed. If I was laying a wager on the election, I would say it will be postponed to protect our poll workers and citizens.

I appreciate your input and feedback and encourage you to be positive. I also encourage you to remember that Psalm 46:1-3 says: “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.”

You can always reach me by phone at (404) 656-5105 or by email at [email protected]. As always, thank you for allowing me to serve as your State Representative.