Georgia confirms more than 1,000 new COVID-19 cases in 24 hours

Everyone with more than three brain cells to rub together tried to tell dubiously elected Republican Gov. Brian Kemp that his science-free idea of reopening Georgia amidst the novel coronavirus pandemic was a terrible idea. Even strange South Carolina racist Sen. Lindsay Graham thought Kemp was moving too fast. Now, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that within a 24-hour span, the Peach State confirmed more than 1,000 new COVID-19 cases.

On Thursday, the Georgia Department of Public Health had a confirmed number of 26,000 cases in the state. On Friday, with 164,465 tests reportedly administered, that number has shot up to 27,023. This comes after Gov. Kemp decreed that gyms, barber shops, massage parlors, tattoo parlors, and bowling alleys could reopen today, with restaurants and theaters being allowed to reopen on Monday, May 1.

As anyone who can read the previous paragraph can tell you, gyms, barber shops, massage parlors, tattoo parlors, and bowling alleys are not places where one can easily socially distance. For one, they tend to be places where the activity being participated in means hands on heads and bodies. That, by definition is the opposite of social distancing. AJC.com has reports that new cases in the metro Atlanta area have continued to climb by the hundreds every day: “As of Thursday, there are at least 2,845 cases of the virus in Fulton, 2,041 in DeKalb, 1,818 in Gwinnett, 1,660 in Cobb, 1,364 in Hall, 720 in Clayton, 491 in Henry, 474 in Cherokee, 370 in Carroll, 322 in Douglas, 317 in Bartow, 304 in Forsyth, 198 in Newton, 191 in Rockdale and 188 in Paulding.”

Gov. Kemp is attempting to have it both ways by lifting restrictions while continuing to advise everyone to stay home. The order does not lift the shelter-in-place directive from “medically fragile” or elderly citizens. And, of course, that order still allows those groups to move about based on being an ‘essential worker,’ or participating in ‘necessary travel,’ or having medical needs. Gov. Kemp’s order does keep bars and nightclubs closed through May 13. So, maybe Georgia will solve this COVID-19 pandemic issue in the next two weeks?