ATLANTA – As Georgia dine-in restaurants and theaters prepare to reopen Monday, Gov. Brian Kemp continues to be hit with criticism over businesses including barbershops and hair salons he let reopen Friday.
Public health experts, mayors across Georgia and legislative Democrats are questioning the logic of making such “close-contact” businesses the first to reopen when the state has yet to see a 14-day decline in COVID-19 cases as specified under federal coronavirus guidelines for reopening the economy.
But the criticism of Kemp’s handling of the crisis misses the fact that bars and nightclubs, gyms and fitness centers, dine-in services at restaurants, theaters, bowling alleys and the close-contact personal care shops are the only businesses the governor shut down to discourage the spread of COVID-19, said Chris Clark, president and CEO of the Georgia Chamber of Commerce.
The shelter-in-place order Kemp issued early this month allowed all other businesses – including those in the retail sector – to remain open, subject to a lengthy list of restrictions aimed at preserving social distancing. The restrictions include screening employees for illness, disinfecting the premises, requiring employees who come into close contact with customers to wear masks and requiring at least six feet of space between workers and between workers and customers.
Some businesses have stayed open by complying with the restrictions, including providing curbside service to customers or limiting the number of customers allowed inside the business at any one time. Other businesses have chosen to close while the shelter-in-place order remains in effect.
Clark suggested allowing the approximately 20,000 businesses throughout the state that were shut down by law to reopen is a matter of fairness.
“These are small mom-and-pop [businesses], most of which ran out of capital 14 days ago,” Clark said last week. “Many of them are minority- and immigrant-owned businesses. Most of them are sole proprietors. … They’re really struggling.”
Judging by the response of affected business owners to Friday’s reopening, many theaters and restaurants likely will remain closed on Monday out of concern over potentially spreading the virus.
Clark said that’s their choice.
“Businesses have a responsibility if they want to open to follow the guidelines, take the temperatures of their employees, disinfect and provide masks,” he said. “The governor’s not forcing any business to open that doesn’t want to.”
Kemp’s shelter-in-place order is due to expire this Thursday unless he decides to extend it.