ATLANTA — Gov. Brian Kemp has extended the state's COVID-19 restrictions once again and has renewed the state's public health emergency declaration, though the state has seen recent progress in the fight against coronavirus.
On Wednesday evening, the governor signed the latest executive order for the restrictions, which largely keeps mitigation strategies - like reduced capacity for public gatherings, shelter-in-place orders for the medically fragile and others - in place for another 15 days.
Minimal additions to the extension include allowing workers at restaurants and bars to return to work once they have been symptom-free for 24 hours following a known or suspected positive COVID-19 diagnosis, per CDC guidelines, and allowing for certain SAT/ACT test score deadlines to be extended for HOPE and Zell eligibility.
The restrictions will stay in place until 11:59 p.m. on Oct. 15, unless he extends them again - which Kemp has done several times already.
Meanwhile, the public health emergency - the state's first-ever emergency declaration of its kind - has been extended until Nov. 9, 2020.
On Sept. 30, data shows the state had seen more than 7,000 deaths related to COVID-19. There was also an increase of more than 1,700 cases within the last 24 hours, though the recent daily totals have been trending below average. The new cases bring the state total over the course of the pandemic to 318,000 cases thus far.
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