The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Atlanta mayor positive, orders mask use
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. 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’s a look at major developments during the past week:.
Bottoms requires masks in Atlanta
Masks or a cloth face covering are 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 prevent 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 last week that the city couldn’t force people to wear masks
because it isn’t mandated under state law — or in an executive order by Gov. Brian Kemp.
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.
Bottoms’ mask mandate comes as Georgia and other states have seen a resurgence in COVID-19 infections. Many public health experts say 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 ‘unenforceable’
Kemp’s office said 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.”
Experts urge the public to take safety 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.
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 show.
Wellstar Atlanta Medical Center’s ICU reached capacity Tuesday. Emory Health Care’s number of 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.
Preparations underway
Facilities are working to gear up statewide. The Georgia Emergency Management Agency said it is creat
ing an additional 80 noncritical 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.