Many Georgia businesses hesitant to embrace governor’s call to reopen
ATLANTA — Gov. Brian Kemp’s call to reopen shuttered businesses in Georgia left many business owners wary and confused Tuesday as they considered how to protect themselves and their customers in a state where coronavirus deaths exceed 800 and confirmed infections have surpassed 20,000.
Kemp’s plan to kick-start the economy is one of the most aggressive announced since President Donald Trump laid out benchmarks for states to start lifting restrictions. But Georgia’s testing system has lagged behind much of the nation, and public health experts warned that moving too quickly could fuel a resurgence in infections.
“It’s concerning. I’m certainly not going to go the gym or get a haircut,” said Dr. Carlos del Rio, an infectious disease expert at Emory University in Atlanta. “I’ll let people make their own decisions.”
Kemp’s order lets gyms, hair and nail salons, bowling alleys and tattoo parlors open with restrictions Friday. Restaurants can resume dine-in service Monday, though bars and nightclubs must remain closed.
“The private sector is going to have to convince the public that it’s safe to come back into these businesses,” Kemp said Monday.
Georgia has processed more than 900,000 new unemployment claims in the last month. But many business owners aren’t convinced it’s time to end the lockdown.
“I think most of our customers are not ready to venture out yet,” said Kristin Allin, who owns Bread & Butterfly restaurant in Atlanta with her husband. She said her restaurant will remain closed for now, possibly for another month or more.
In Savannah, Mark Lebos closed his gym March 11. He reached out to clients Tuesday to tell them his business, Strong Gym, won’t be reopening yet. Lebos said reopening would be professional negligence.
“We are not going to be a vector of death and suffering,” he said.
Ronique Holloway plans to wait until May 1 to reopen her Atlantaarea hair salon, where she’s the only stylist. She worries that’s still too soon, but said she doesn’t have a choice because she needs money to support her daughter.
“You’re staring at somebody right in their face when you shampoo it. Heaven forbid if you talk,” said Holloway, 48, who plans to wear a mask and gloves.
In rural Terrell County, Karl Gould, 82, said it’s time to reopen businesses even though his age makes him vulnerable to serious illness.
“Do you want to continue being shut down with a destroyed economy forever?” said Gould, a retired engineer. “Sooner or later, you’ve got to suck it up and say, ‘We’re going to reopen, and if we have some casualties, we do.’ ”
Kemp was one of the last governors on the East Coast to announce a statewide stay-at-home order April 1. Even then, he controversially overruled local officials and allowed beaches, lakes and state parks to remain open — a decision he has characterized as a success, saying there have been few problems.
When salons and cafes reopen in the coming days, Kemp says they must enforce social distancing rules, provide workers with protective gear when available, and screen employees exhibiting potential symptoms.
But experts say widespread testing and the ability to trace people exposed to infected patients are critical to resuming business without causing a new wave of sickness.
Georgia is working on those pieces, but isn’t there yet, said Dr. Harry Heiman, an associate professor of public health at Georgia State University in Atlanta. He said Kemp’s decision to reopen businesses without sufficient testing or contact tracing is “premature, and it’s irresponsible.“
Georgia had administered more than 88,000 tests as of Tuesday, but its per capita testing rate is in the bottom 10 of states.
“In most states, we’re still only testing the sickest of the sick,” said Dr. Jennifer Nuzzo, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. “And we’re missing those people who are mildly affected who are going to be the ones out and about spreading their illness.”