GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — Gwinnett County and all 16 cities within the county jointly announced on Friday afternoon that they were instituting stay-at-home orders.
The county joins other large metro Atlanta jurisdictions, such as DeKalb County, Cobb County and the City of Atlanta, who have issued similar directives.
"This move is being made in a coordinated fashion in order to slow the spread of COVID-19 and to preserve the community’s capacity to provide essential governmental and healthcare services," a release said.
The cities within Gwinnett County include Auburn, Berkeley Lake, Braselton, Buford, Dacula, Duluth, Grayson, Lawrenceville, Lilburn, Loganville, Norcross, Peachtree Corners, Rest Haven, Snellville, Sugar Hill and Suwanee.
The order allows for individuals to leave their homes to "conduct activities that are essential to their own health and safety and that of family/household members, partners, significant others, and pets."
The release said some examples of permissible reasons to leave the home include "obtaining food, medication and medical supplies, household consumer supplies and healthcare services or caring for a family member or pet in another household."
According to the order, outdoor activities such as walking, hiking, running and biking are still allowed as long as people observe social distancing while they do them.
“We are all navigating uncharted waters as we respond to the COVID-19 public health emergency, and I am grateful to each of the cities for their decisive actions,” said Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners Chairman Charlotte Nash. “The district commissioners and I would like to express our deep appreciation to all of our residents and businesses for making temporary sacrifices for the good of our communities as our hospitals, healthcare workers, and first responders prepare for a rapidly growing caseload.”
The order comes on the same day Georgia surpassed 2,000 coronavirus cases. So far, Gov. Brian Kemp has not issued a statewide stay-at-home order, saying he wants to leave the decision to local governments.
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