ATLANTA — Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms joined health and law enforcement officials to update the public about crime and COVID-19.
Chief of Emory Medical Doctor Carlos del Rio and Atlanta Police Chief Rodney Bryant joined Bottoms at the Tuesday press conference at the Atlanta City Hall.
You can watch the full replay on the 11Alive YouTube channel.
The mayor's office says the conference is all about informing people on "two public health epidemics," citing a "COVID crime wave" and the virus itself.
During the press conference, Bryant announced Atlanta Police Homicide Investigators would be releasing photographs of multiple people who they believe were in the area of Piedmont Park when a woman and her dog were brutally stabbed last week.
"You all have heard me refer to this COVID crime wave that is sweeping the nation," Bottoms said while speaking about violent crime in the city.
But she says the Piedmont Park stabbing was different.
"We've also seen a murder in our city, the likes of which we have not seen in quite some time," she said. "I don't put this in the category of COVID crime wave. This does not fit the description of anything that we've seen."
Bottoms said COVID-19 crime wave violence has primarily been between individuals who know each other, Bottoms says like the tragic shooting death of 17-year-old Jakari Dillard.
"The vast majority of our murder has been a result of gun violence," Bottoms said.
Last month Bottoms outlined proposals delivered by an advisory council she formed as a response to the rise in violent crime, with a $70 million price tag on a number of initiatives.
Mayor Bottoms said public safety as a number one priority was justifiable, nonetheless, because "what I know is when our communities aren't safe, or when they don't feel safe, nothing else really matters."
Bottoms also issued an executive order last month, requiring masks to be worn in all public places while indoors.
The mandate requires a face mask or cloth covering over a person's nose and mouth while indoors at a public place, including private businesses and establishments in the City of Atlanta, a June 28 statement from the mayor's office says.
Bottoms says the mandate is in response to the rising number of COVID-19 cases, the impact of the Delta variant, and the new CDC guidance.
“Public health experts overwhelmingly agree, and data has proved, that wearing a face covering helps slow the spread of this deadly virus,” Mayor Bottoms said. “As COVID-19 rates increase, we must remain vigilant, wear a mask, follow CDC guidelines and other measures to ensure the safety and wellbeing of our communities.”
New information about the Delta variant having the ability to spread among vaccinated people caused the CDC to make the new recommendations on last month.
During the press conference Bottoms said the Atlanta was "making great progress" in efforts to reopen amid the COVID-19 pandemic, but now the city is "very close" to backsliding to "Phase 2" of the five phase reopening plan. The city was previously at "Phase 4."
"With the surge of the Delta variant, we have gone backwards," Bottoms said. "And we've always said that we would follow the data."