Gov. Brian Kemp said Tuesday that he and state health officials believe the coronavirus situation in Hall County is improving
"The numbers there are really starting to flatten and potentially go in the right direction," Kemp said. "We've engaged the business community, the elected leadership, the community leadership, the neighborhood leadership where the spread happening. It was a fairly contained environment."
Kemp praised the work of a local task force formed to help educate the Hispanic community on ways to protect itself from the coronavirus. About half of Hall County's confirmed cases are Hispanic residents. Insurance Commissioner John King was appointed by Kemp to work with Hispanic communities around the state. King and Dr. Kathleen Toomey, the head of the Department of Public Health, have both visited Hall County, and King is expected back on Friday, the governor said.
"We were able to jump on it very quickly," he said. "We're not out of the woods yet. We're continuing to throw a lot of resources up there including sending temporary medial personnel to help with the hospital up there. We've got to keep hunkering down."
In recent weeks, Hall County had been considered the state's newest hotspot for the virus.
On Tuesday, Northeast Georgia Health System reported 112 patients are hospitalized for coronavirus at its four campuses, a number than has dropped slightly since the first of May. Ventilator usage, however, is at its high point of the month. Fifty-seven people have died in the health system, but 442 patients have been discharged from the hospitals.
At his media briefing on Tuesday, Kemp also said he will keep bars, nightclubs and music venues closed through the end of the month, and he was extended social distancing rules that are in place for businesses that have opted to reopen amid the pandemic.
He also raised capacity limits on restaurants and daycare facilities. And he said the state would allow day camps for children to being later this month, although overnight camps are still prohibited.
Kemp said the number of new cases, the number of new hospitalizations and the number of new ventilator uses are all down. But he cautioned he wouldn't hesitate to implement new restrictions if the numbers being to spike.
