Coronavirus in Georgia: Latest news on COVID-19 in Atlanta and Georgia

ExploreFOR THURSDAY UPDATES TO OUR COVERAGE OF CORONAVIRUS IN GEORGIA, CLICK HERE

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is committed to providing our readers with the most comprehensive coverage of the deadly coronavirus.

This blog will be updated throughout Wednesday, March 11, with news and details of COVID-19 in Georgia.

» Complete coverage: Coronavirus

9:50 p.m.: Georgia authorities announced late Wednesday the state had nine additional confirmed and presumed cases of the disease caused by coronavirus, bringing the total number of patients sickened by COVID-19 to 31 across the state, Greg Bluestein reports.

9:50 p.m.: Actor Tom Hanks and wife Rita Wilson have been diagnosed with COVID-19. Stephanie Toone reports the Oscar award-winning actor announced the news Wednesday night. He and Wilson were visiting Australia.

9:50 p.m.: The NBA announced it will suspend the rest of its season, after a player on the Utah Jazz tested positive for coronavirus, or COVID-19. The AJC's Atlanta Hawks reporter Sarah K. Spencer reports that Jazz player Rudy Gobert tested positive for the coronavirus Wednesday night.

8:50 p.m.: Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A is assigning the more than 2,000 employees at its headquarters to work remotely Thursday and Friday, as businesses around the nation increasingly prepare for how the worsening coronavirus outbreak may affect their operations, Matt Kempner reports.

6 p.m.:

5:20 p.m.: St. Patrick's Day festivities in Savannah have been called off. Toone reports Mayor Van Johnson announced the decision Wednesday evening. Atlanta's parade, one of the oldest in the country, has also been canceled.

4:15 p.m.: Both Emory Healthcare and Cartersville Medical Center confirm they are treating patients with the coronavirus, Alexis Stevens reports. "Emory Healthcare has admitted our first patient who has tested positive for COVID-19," the hospital system posted on its website late Tuesday. Emory did not say which of its 10 hospitals is treating the patient. In Bartow County, doctors were also treating a confirmed coronavirus case and awaiting testing on three other patients.

3:45 p.m.: Ben Brasch, who covers North Fulton for the AJC, reports that a second Fulton schools employee has COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. The employee worked at Woodland Middle School, one of the two southern Fulton middle schools where the other sickened employee taught.

2:15: Gov. Brian Kemp plans to do something that hasn't been done since the Great Recession — raise the revenue estimate by using state reserves. Why? As James Salzer reports, the governor asked lawmakers Wednesday to add $100 million in emergency funding to the midyear budget, to deal with the coronavirus.

» CVS to deliver prescriptions for free to limit exposure to coronavirus

» Birthday party for John Lewis is the latest casualty in coronavirus scare

1 p.m.: Cobb has created a coronavirus task force to prepare the county for the possibility of an extended shutdown, Meris Lutz reports. Among changes the task force has already implemented are compiling a list of which employees need remote network access to continue county services, adopting an emergency closure policy and adjusting workers' comp to include employees exposed while on the job.

10:30: The State Road and Tollway Authority announced it has begun "deep cleaning" 10-15 buses a day that are part of metro Atlanta's Xpress bus service, AJC transportation reporter David Wickert wrote. The agency said it has begun an "enhanced cleaning regimen" that includes daily cleaning of equipment, high-touch areas and high foot traffic areas.

9 a.m.: Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and GOP leaders urged to postpone Crossover Day, Bluestein reports. "On one of the most significant days of the legislative calendar, with votes scheduled on dozens of bills that will impact Georgians' lives, the people's presence must be seen and their voices must be heard," read the statement from Black Voters Matter Fund, Fair Fight Action, Georgia NAACP, Georgia Shift and New Georgia Project Action Fund.

8 a.m.: AJC breaking news reporter Chelsea Prince writes that passengers from the Grand Princess cruise ship, which was hit by coronavirus, arrived in Georgia early Wednesday to be quarantined at Dobbins Air Reserve Base. Two planes carrying 271 passengers were expected to arrive at the base from Oakland, California, Channel 2 Action News reported. The group includes 34 Georgians and dozens from other states.

» Georgia receiving millions in federal funding to aid coronavirus response

» Does travel insurance cover coronavirus-related cancellations?

Overnight

Helena Oliviera, Bluestein and Jeremy Redmon worked late Tuesday night to keep you updated. They report the number of residents who are confirmed or presumed to have COVID-19 is now 22 — including the first in south Georgia. All but one of the residents are hospitalized. For most of these people, the source of exposure is unknown.

March 10