Gov. Brian Kemp held a prayer service at the Georgia Capitol Monday morning as restaurants were given the green light to reopen amid ongoing concerns over coronavirus.
More than a dozen faith leaders, almost all from Christian churches, spoke inside the Capitol building. While the service was not open to the public, it was well-viewed online with more 11,000 people at one point tuning in to a live video stream on Facebook.
The speakers prayed for the health and safety of Georgians, as well as for the state’s elected officials to make wise decisions as Georgia slowly resumes business operations.
Kemp called for prayers for health-care workers, first responders, law enforcement officials and “the everyday Georgian driving a truck or manning a check-out line at a grocery store.”
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“This virus has caused sickness, death and great loss in our state as well as across the country,” Kemp said. “But it has also shown us the power of unity, of caring for our neighbors and the unyielding will of our state and our nation.”
As of noon Monday, nearly 24,000 people in Georgia had tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel strain of coronavirus that sparked a global pandemic. It has killed 942 Georgians.
Kemp has faced criticism over the past week for allowing dine-in restaurants to reopen Monday following weeks of mandatory statewide closures aimed at giving hospitals and health officials time to combat the highly infectious virus. Other businesses like gyms, barbershops and bowling alleys were permitted to reopen last Friday.
The governor has framed the phased-in reopening as a “measured action” that will help businesses get back on their feet after weeks of financial turmoil brought on by the forced closures.
Convened by Kemp, Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan and Georgia House Speaker David Ralston, the prayer service Monday came hours ahead of a news conference in which the governor is set to give an update on the state’s coronavirus response.
Some speakers like Rev. Kenneth Samuel, pastor of Victory Church in Stone Mountain, called for protections for “essential workers” in restaurants, hospitals and elsewhere who face risks from coronavirus in the workplace.
“Let no one’s low unemployment or lack of health care force them to have to choose between feeding their families or exposing their families to the coronavirus,” Samuel said.
Others like Rev. Deb Trimpe, associate pastor of Alps Road Presbyterian Church in Athens, urged unity among Georgians and to “set aside anger and acrimony” spurred by political divisions that have been aggravated by the virus.
“Remind us today that we are not Republican or Democrat,” Trimpe said Monday. “We are not red or blue. We are first Georgians and we are neighbors together.”