Kemp: Number of tests has doubled
♦ Peachtree Road Race rescheduled for Thanksgiving.
Friday, some large retail stores and shopping areas that have been closed began reopening, including Arbor Place mall in Douglasville, the Shoppes at River Crossing in Macon, Southlake Mall in Morrow, some outlet centers and all Belk department stores statewide.
Many other large malls and department stores in Georgia plan to reopen Monday or Tuesday, including Atlanta-area retail flagships such as Lenox Square mall and Perimeter Mall, plus all Macy’s and Dillard’s stores statewide.
Some malls are operating with limited hours or without all tenants open. Large mall operators such as Simon Property Group and Brookfield Properties Retail say they’re closing off some or all food court seating and providing hand sanitizer. Simon says it will also provide masks and temperature checks to shoppers who want them.
The AJC Peachtree Road Race, which draws tens of thousands of runners to Atlanta
every July 4 for a 10K course through the heart of the city, has been rescheduled for Thanksgiving, according to an email sent to registered participants by the Atlanta Track Club. Guidance from health experts led to the postponement until Nov. 26, the track club said.
Georgia was initially slow to build testing capacity compared to other states but has been ramping up rapidly. Kemp said Friday that the number of tests being reported to the state had doubled in less than a week, with over 20,000 tests reported on Thursday alone. Kemp’s office announced a free pop-up testing site that will be operating in Decatur on Monday.