Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Governor, mayor mixing it up in spat over mask orders in Ga.
ATLANTA — Georgia’s governor and the mayor of its largest city accused each other of playing politics Friday amid an escalating fight over face masks intended to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus.
The battle over masks in a state with rapidly rising cases of COVID-19 erupted into a public fight as Atlanta and more than a dozen other cities and counties defied Republican Gov. Brian Kemp and issued local orders requiring masks to be worn in public spaces.
The dispute ratcheted up several notches this week, leading to tough talk from both the governor and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who accused President Donald Trump of violating the city’s mask requirement.
On Wednesday, Kemp issued an executive order that explicitly voided local mask requirements. That same day, Trump arrived in Atlanta for a visit without wearing a mask. Then on Thursday, Kemp sued the city of Atlanta to block it from enforcing a mask mandate and other rules related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Georgia has had more than 135,000 confirmed cases of the virus, though experts say that many more people are likely infected but never tested. At least 3,130 people have died in Georgia after contracting the virus. The state has seen a sharp increase in confirmed cases and in hospitalizations in recent weeks.
The lawsuit was filed “on behalf of business owners, their employees and hardworking Georgians throughout the region who continue to struggle to make ends meet,” Kemp said.
Bottoms announced last week that Atlanta would return to the first phase of its coronavirus reopening plan, saying that the state had reopened in a “reckless manner.” That includes limiting restaurants to takeout only and retail stores to curbside pickups.
Bottoms later said those are recommendations, tweeting Thursday that Kemp “is suing Atlanta over RECOMMENDED guidelines.” But she maintains that the city’s mask mandate is in effect and will continue to be enforced.