Georgia

Governor: When to reopen state remains open question

ATLANTA — Gov. Brian Kemp said he is leaving open the possibility of extending Georgia’s stay-at-home order.

Kemp, who took part in President Donald Trump’s conference call Thursday with all governors from around the country, said the bottom line is it remains unclear when the state could start reopening.

“I do believe there are ways we can start easing back into the economy,” Kemp said. “I think we just have to be smart about how we do that. Whether I extend the order, we have a new order or it completely goes away."

During the conference call, the president told Kemp and other governors from around the country he would let them “call their own shots” on when to reopen their states.

Dr. Jesse Couk, an infectious disease doctor at Piedmont Hospital, told Channel 2’s Justin Wilfon that the state shouldn’t rush to reopen.

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“Right now, we are seeing the benefit of that social distancing but that doesn’t mean that we can stop doing it. We need to continue to do that, because if we go back too soon while that fire is still burning, we’re just adding fuel to the fire,” Couk said.

For now, Georgia’s shelter-in-place order is set to expire April 30. That is similar to other states around the country.

Washington state’s runs until May 4. In the South, North Carolina’s goes until April 29 and Florida’s until April 30.

But with Georgia’s peak in cases becoming a moving target, and not likely until May, the state’s reopening remains an open question.

“The thing we have in Georgia is that our so-called peak when it gets here keeps moving further away,” Kemp said.

The governor said he doesn’t believe any large gatherings can happen in our state in the near future but didn’t elaborate on an exact timeline.