Listen to WDUN's full interview with Gov. Brian Kemp by clicking the player at left.
UPDATE: 4:25 p.m.
Gov. Brian Kemp on Wednesday extended the statewide shelter-in-place order through April 30 as Georgia tries to slow the spread of the Coronavirus.
He also banned vacation rentals, and he said he would call up 1,000 more National Guardsmen to help.
ORIGINAL STORY:
Georgia’s top political leadership announced Wednesday the state’s public health emergency to deal with the coronavirus will be extended through May 13.
The emergency declaration extends Gov. Brian Kemp’s authority to restrict travel, limit public gatherings and direct a host of other initiatives aimed at curbing the virus’ spread in Georgia. Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan and Speaker David Ralston agreed it was necessary to extend the emergency, and they are cancelling a special session of the General Assembly, which was tentatively set for Wednesday.
The initial public health emergency was originally scheduled to expire Monday.
“This is not a good time for us be coming back as a General Assembly right now,” Kemp told WDUN in an interview Wednesday. “We’re in the throngs of this outbreak pandemic, and we need to extend the public health emergency so we will have all the resources and tools we need as a state government to be able to respond as we have. It gives us a lot of tools, particularly from a health care perspective that we’re going to need here in the next few weeks.
Kemp and Dr. Kathleen Toomey, commissioner of the Department of Public Health, are expected to conduct a briefing on the virus at 4 p.m. from the state capitol. The briefing will be livestreamed on AccessWDUN.
When lawmakers met last month, they debated the best way to extend the initial emergency declaration when it expires. After much debate, they decided to allow Kemp to extend it unilaterally I the spread of the virus made it unsafe for legislators to return in special session. Following the session, the entire state Senate had to self-quarantine for two weeks after one member showed up at the session with COVID-19 symptoms. He was later diagnosed with the disease.
“By extending the public health state of emergency, we can ensure Georgians have access to every available state resource during this crisis,” Duncan said in a news release. “The General Assembly will continue to remain vigilant and available to assist our citizens in any way possible."
Kemp also said testing was ramping up across the state, and he credited a partnership with CVS Health for helping make that happen. A drive-through testing site has been set up in Georgia Tech parking garage to expedite testing.
“They did 500 tests the first day and they’re working out some kinks,” Kemp said. “We think they’ll be up to a thousand tests a day very quickly.”
And the governor thanked National Guard troops who have been deployed to the state to help with the pandemic. Teams of Guardsmen are fanning out across the state to help sanitize more than 300 long-term care facilities. Guardsmen are also helping local food banks with distribution of food to residents.
“I hope all Georgians, if you see a Guardsman or Guardswoman, I hope you’ll salute them and give them a thumbs-up from a distance,” Kemp said.
Kemp made his remarks Wednesday morning during an appearance on WDUN’s “Morning Talk with Martha Zoller.”
