Credit: Athens Banner-Herald
Credit: Athens Banner-Herald
The Athens-Clarke County Courthouse shut down on Wednesday after a deputy who works there tested positive for COVID-19, officials said.
The building will remain closed through at least Monday morning so crews can “conduct a thorough cleaning of the courthouse,” Chief Judge Eric Norris wrote in an order declaring a judicial emergency.
Closing through the weekend will give employees who may have come in contact with the deputy the chance to get tested for the highly contagious virus, officials said. The building is set to reopen at 8 a.m. Monday.
The judicial order did not identify the deputy or say which duties they performed at the courthouse.
“The courts shall remain minimally open to address essential functions, and in particular to give priority to matters necessary to protect health” the order reads. “During this period, one or more deputies of the (sheriff’s office) will be situated inside the front door of the courthouse and available to handle and direct any interested person to the appropriate authority or county officer for any emergency or any need which would otherwise be handled in the courthouse.”
The decision to shut down the courthouse comes amid a surge of new coronavirus cases and hospitalizations in Georgia. On Sunday, the state surpassed 3,000 coronavirus deaths.
Several cities across the state, including Athens, have passed ordinances requiring residents to wear masks in public in an attempt to curb the spread of COVID-19. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, however, has called the mandates “unenforceable.”
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Credit: AJC
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