Gov. Brian Kemp shuts down all schools in Georgia until March 31 in response to coronavirus outbreak

All schools in Georgia will be closed for the remainder of March because of the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, Gov. Brian Kemp announced Monday night.

Kemp issued an executive order to close all elementary, secondary and post-secondary schools in the state from Wednesday until March 31. Many district in metro Atlanta, including Gwinnett County Public Schools had already closed school buildings for this week, however.

The move came on the heels of the Georgia General Assembly ratifying the governor’s declaration of a public health emergency in the state during a special session earlier on Monday. That declaration gave Kemp extra powers to protect the public during the outbreak.

“To keep our students, teachers, and administrators safe and mitigate the spread of COVID-19, I am ordering the closure of all public elementary, secondary, and post-secondary schools in Georgia from March 18, 2020 to March 31, 2020,” Kemp said in a statement. “This measure is critical to reducing local transmission in communities across our state, and I ask Georgians to continue to follow best practices – washing their hands regularly, isolating the elderly and chronically ill, and avoiding large events if possible – in the days and weeks ahead.”

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