Henry County declares state of emergency because of COVID-19

Henry County has declared a state of emergency because of increasing COVID-19 infections and their impact on the south metro Atlanta community’s hospital.

The declaration, which will last for 60 days, activates the county’s Emergency Operations Plan and makes essential employees in the areas of firefighting, hospitals, transportation and law enforcement.

Henry, like most counties in metro Atlanta, has seen a sharp increase in positive coronavirus cases because of the more infectious delta variant. The county said that earlier this week that Piedmont Henry Medical Center had exceeded its capacity of ICU beds and 68 COVID patients.