Athens<\/a> and several other communities in Georgia where mask requirements were recently imposed.<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe governor\u2019s order arrived hours before a slate of COVID-19 restrictions were set to expire at Wednesday\u2019s end. Kemp has executive authority to issue emergency orders through at least Aug. 11.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As of Wednesday afternoon, nearly 128,000 people in Georgia had tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel strain of coronavirus that sparked a global pandemic. It had killed 3,091 Georgians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While a host of Georgia businesses have been allowed to reopen since May, they are still required by the governor\u2019s orders to abide by several measures to keep people separated from each other, maintain clean surfaces and send workers home if they show symptoms of coronavirus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A shelter-in-place order has been in effect since late March for Georgians in long-term care facilities and those with chronic medical conditions including lung disease, moderate to severe asthma, severe heart disease, compromised immune systems, severe obesity and diabetes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In particular, large gatherings in Georgia have been limited to no more than 50 people if they cannot keep at least six feet apart. That applies to restaurants, bars and other popular gathering spots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Conventions, sports stadiums and performance venues were allowed to reopen July 1 under distancing, sanitizing and signage rules. But Kemp has suggested he could pull the plug on fall sports like football if people disregard wearing masks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kemp\u2019s new order says any city or county rules \u201crequiring persons to wear face coverings, masks, face shields\u201d or other kinds of protective equipment in public \u201care suspended to the extent that they are more restrictive than\u201d the state\u2019s guidelines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Asked whether the new language is aimed specifically at preventing local governments from imposing mask mandates, Kemp\u2019s office reiterated the governor\u2019s previous position on the matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been clear in previous orders and statements that local mask mandates are unenforceable,\u201d said Candice Broce, Kemp\u2019s communications director. \u201cThe Governor has encouraged Georgians to wear them voluntarily for months now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mask-wearing in Georgia has been a testy subject in recent weeks. Kemp remains under pressure to impose mandatory masking requirements as positive COVID-19 cases continue rising in the state, and several cities have ordered residents to wear facial coverings in public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The governor\u2019s latest order came shortly Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey placed her state under a mask mandate through July. Several other states have also required masking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kemp\u2019s statewide rules for Georgia so far have \u201cstrongly encouraged\u201d voluntary mask-wearing even as many health experts and local elected officials have urged him to take a mandatory approach or at least let counties and cities set their own masking rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To date, Kemp\u2019s orders on COVID-19 have required city and county governments to adopt the state\u2019s rules rather than impose their own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last week, Atlanta<\/a> Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms issued a citywide masking requirement that argued the governor\u2019s statewide orders do not explicitly address mask mandates, posing a legal loophole for local governments to adopt their own measures.<\/p>\n\n\n\nKemp\u2019s office has dismissed the Atlanta mask mandate as unenforceable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Savannah Mayor Van Johnson pressed Kemp again Wednesday to grant local governments leeway to require public masking. He said in a news conference the city\u2019s mask mandate has prompted residents and visitors alike to wear masks amid the summer season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been very clear more people are wearing masks,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cI think sometimes people need a rule.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Gov. Brian Kemp renewed orders late Wednesday to keep Georgia\u2019s current social distancing and safety rules imposed through the end of July to discourage the spread of coronavirus in place for businesses, schools and public gatherings. The latest executive order also contains new language requiring that any masking mandates put in place by city or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7286],"tags":[8484,8481,8480],"class_list":["post-16544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-coronavirus","tag-brian-kemp","tag-coronavirus","tag-covid-19","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16544"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16544\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thegeorgiasun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}