Georgia’s shelter-in-place expires – for most people
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By Curt Yeomans
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A shelter-in-place order that Gov. Brian Kemp put into place at the beginning of April will expire tonight for most people — but the governor wants people to stay inside anyway because of the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic.
Kemp announced Thursday afternoon that he plans to let the shelter-in-place order expire, while simultaneously asking Georgians to continue sheltering in place as much as possible. He’s also extending Georgia’s state of emergency for an additional month, until mid-June.
“Tonight at 11:59 PM, the statewide shelter in place order for most Georgians will expire,” Kemp said. “However, moving forward, I am urging Georgians to continue to stay home whenever possible.
“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 has previously said he wants the elderly and medically fragile to continue sheltering in place into mid-May. He announced Monday that he will continue to require them to shelter-in-place until June 12.
Long-term care facilities such as nursing homes, personal care homes, assisted living facilities and similar community living homes wil also have to continue using enhanced infection control protocols and “ensure safer living conditions” to protect residents and employees and prvent them from being exposed to COVID-19.
Kemp recently began letting some businesses such as bowling alleys, gyms, hair and nail salons and movie theaters re-open. The governor has also given restaurants the OK to begin resuming dine-in services.
Businesses that have been allowed to re-open must take extra sanitation steps and enforce social distancing through at least May 13.
“The health and well-being of Georgians are my top priorities, and my decisions are based on data and advice from health officials,” Kemp said. “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.”
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