CLARKESVILLE – With limited exceptions, Habersham County residents are required to stay home for the next two weeks.
That was the decision of the Habersham County Commission when that body met in an emergency session Saturday morning via teleconference.
Commissioners said protecting the health of county residents while not unnecessarily penalizing businesses are paramount concerns for them.
During the meeting, that was fraught with technical difficulties after more than 400 people dialed in to listen, Commission Chairman Stacy Hall said Habersham County incorrectly was listed with a COVID-19 case on Friday.
“As of the noon report yesterday [Friday], the Department of Public Health listed a positive case in Habersham of COVID-19,” Hall said. “As of the 7 p.m. report, that case had been removed from the Department of Public Health website.”
Hall said county officials believe the report was the result of a clerical error but added it’s difficult to determine.
“Throughout the day, as chairman I had been in contact with the CEO of our local hospital,” Hall said. “She confirmed that there had been no positive reports from the 21 tests that the hospital has done as of yesterday – 18 were negative, three the tests had yet to be returned. The positive case did not come from Habersham Medical Center.”
Federal privacy laws, specifically the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), restrict the release of a patient’s identifying or personal medical information.
Still, that did not keep Habersham County officials from trying to learn more about the reported case in the event additional quarantining was needed.
“I contacted Chad Black, the director of EMS, and he was not aware of where that case came from,” Hall said. “He contacted the Department of Public Health. The situation right now with the Department of Public Health is they are being very protective based on HIPAA rules on sharing demographic information, geographic information about any positive test cases. Without that information specifically, our assumption without any additional information is that it was a clerical error. We have made several attempts to seek clarity from the Department of Public Health but have yet to receive it.”
While Habersham officials know it is likely one or more cases of the coronavirus will be confirmed in the county at some point, they are hoping to control any possible exposure or spread by limiting nonessential activities outside the family home.
In an emergency declaration fine tuned over two hours Saturday, commissioners laid out the actions they expect Habersham County residents to take to help reduce the potential spread of COVID-19.
“Sheltering at home during this time is our civic duty and responsibility to our family and our neighbors,” Hall said during the discussions.
That doesn’t prevent people from going to work, going to purchase food and cleaning supplies, or taking care of family members, pets or livestock.
Instead, it asks residents and visitors to stop making unnecessary trips to stores and other places where large groups are gathered as a means of getting out of the house.
Commissioner Tim Stamey, who lives in Batesville, said another serious issue is residents of the metro area coming to Habersham County as a means to escape their case-ridden counties.
“There have been several articles by Atlanta media that have urged people to come up to the mountains to enjoy it, because there’s no COVID up here – even though those people are under shelter in place, too,” Stamey said. “I think we need to address all the visitors that are coming to our county from areas that have large numbers of COVID-19.”
Stamey said it is incumbent on commissioners to convey the message that outside visitors should not visit the county for recreational purposes at this time.
“We need to put something in there,” Stamey said. “I’m up here in the north end of the county and we’re just covered up with people from Atlanta that are coming up here to play and it’s endangering our people.”
Saturday afternoon, vehicles lined the shoulders of Historic Highway 441 in the area of the U.S. Forest Service Panther Creek Recreation Area that is temporarily closed. Most of those tags represented metro counties, including Fulton, Gwinnett and Hall. Two vehicles were towed because they were parked partially in the roadway. Others were ticketed.
Stamey said discouraging tourists can be difficult but is in the best interest of Habersham County residents – especially when it involves visitors from COVID-19 heavy areas that should be at home abiding by their local government’s stay at home orders.
“Our Southern hospitality is gone out the window for two weeks,” Stamey said. “You need to abide by your own stay at home orders.”
While commissioners said law enforcement will not be stopping cars checking to see where residents are going, it is critical that community members follow prescribed guidelines and that visitors passing through continue to their destinations.
“Keep in mind that any language that we’re suggesting is a desire,” Hall said. “It’s unenforceable.”
The emergency resolution will be in effect from 12:01 a.m. Sunday, March 29, through 11:59 p.m. Saturday, April 11.
Those interested can read the entire document here https://www.habershamga.com/news?id=6809
