With the number of coronavirus cases soaring, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced that she, too, had tested positive for the infection.
“COVID-19 has literally hit home,” the mayor wrote on Twitter, adding that she has had no symptoms.
Bottoms said her husband and one of their children also tested positive for the virus. Another child tested negative, and two others still need to be tested, she said.
Credit: Ben Gray for the AJC
Credit: Ben Gray for the AJC
Bottoms also issued a mandate requiring people in the city to wear masks in public to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Other cities, including Savannah, Athens and East Point, also have taken steps to require face masks. Several other cities are considering making masks mandatory.
Here is a look at major developments related to the coronavirus during the past week.
Bottoms requires masks in Atlanta
Masks or a cloth face covering is required in the city of Atlanta and Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
There are exceptions: The mandate does not apply to anyone younger than 10, nor to people who have medical conditions or disabilities that prevents wearing face coverings. It also does not apply to people who are eating or smoking, operating a vehicle or swimming in a pool.
There are also allowances for temporary mask removal inside banks, during voting or while receiving personal care services, such as haircuts.
In addition to being required at the airport, face coverings must be worn inside businesses, public buildings and in public outdoor spaces.
Bottoms’ decision on masks was a policy reversal.
She said as recently as this week that the city couldn’t force people to wear masks because it isn’t mandated under state law — or in a Kemp executive order.
In an Atlanta Journal-Constitution editorial board meeting, Bottoms said she felt secure establishing a mask requirement after Kemp took no action against other Georgia cities that did so.
Savannah was the first to establish a mask ordinance.
Credit: Alyssa Pointer
Credit: Alyssa Pointer
Bottoms’ mask mandate comes as Georgia and other states have seen a resurgence in COVID- 19 infections. Many public health experts say that the evidence is clear that masks prevent the spread of the disease.
States and countries with mask mandates are seeing a slowdown in the infection rate.
Kemp’s office: Mask mandates are ‘unenforceable’
Gov. Brian Kemp’s office said that mask requirements adopted by Bottoms and leaders of other Georgia cities are “unenforceable” but stopped short of threatening legal action to block them.
“Like all of the local mask mandates, Mayor Bottoms’ order is unenforceable,” said Kemp spokeswoman Candice Broce. “We continue to encourage Georgians to do the right thing and wear a mask voluntarily.”
» COMPLETE COVERAGE: CORONAVIRUS
Hospital beds dwindle as virus cases soar
The number of hospital beds available to treat critically ill patients is dropping across Georgia as COVID-19 hospitalizations soar past previous highs, raising alarms that time is running out to slow the spread of the virus before medical facilities reach crisis levels.
The share of open critical care beds is down to the single digits around Athens, Columbus, Tifton and in the three-county region of Cobb, Douglas and Paulding, data from the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency shows.
Wellstar Atlanta Medical Center’s ICU reached capacity Tuesday. Emory Health Care’s number COVID-19 patients tripled in two weeks. Grady Medical Center broke its prior record for COVID-19 patients Wednesday, all while it copes with the highest number of trauma cases in its history, its administrators said. The escalating demand on hospital beds is also showing up in a sharp spike in requests for protective gear.
“We are headed for a crisis as hospitalizations now have passed the prior peak,” said Emory University infectious disease expert Dr. Carlos del Rio.
Experts urge the public to take precautions seriously
Experts warn that Georgians need to heed public health warnings immediately to avoid crushing patient loads seen in New York City during the early months of the pandemic.
Wear a mask, wash your hands, avoid large groups and maintain social distancing, said Dr. Robert Jansen, chief medical officer and chief of staff at Grady Health System.
“It isn’t a matter of individual rights, constitutional rights or the law,” said Jansen. “It’s about what to do as a responsible citizen to protect yourself and protect other people.”
Nearly 510 ICU beds are open across the state, or about 18% of the total, according to GEMA data. About 17% of general inpatient beds are available.
Preparations underway
Facilities are working to gear up statewide. The Georgia Emergency Management Agency said it is creating an additional 80 non-critical COVID-19 beds at the Youth Challenge Academy in Milledgeville. The surrounding hospital emergency response region has 13% availability of critical care beds.
GEMA said it also helped stand up three temporary medical units at various hospitals, but did not provide specifics.
Reporters Willoughby Mariano, Greg Bluestein, Stephen Deere and data reporter John Perry contributed to this report.
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