Coronavirus has sickened hundreds of thousands people and killed thousands more in Georgia. (Image: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
Gov. Brian Kemp touted an encouraging decline in the number positive COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in Georgia Wednesday while urging people to get their flu shots immediately.
At a news conference, Kemp noted new positive cases have dropped more than 60% from their peak in July and the two-week positivity average – a key marker to assess the virus’ spread – has fallen by half since August.
Hospitalizations stand at just under 1,300 cases statewide, marking a 60% drop from the peak of people needing medical care for coronavirus, Kemp said Wednesday.
The governor emphasized progress has been made due to Georgians by and large participating in distancing and cleanliness guidelines including keeping six feet apart, washing their hands and wearing masks.
“The key is for us now to keep doing this,” Kemp said. “We cannot take our foot off the gas.”
With schools and businesses reopening after closures since March, Kemp and the state’s public health director, Dr. Kathleen Toomey, stressed it will be critical for Georgians to get their flu shots now to avoid dual outbreaks of highly infectious respiratory viruses.
Toomey said an outbreak of the flu in Georgia could tax local hospitals to the point where they struggle to treat patients for COVID-19 and other ailments, similar to what occur at the height of the pandemic in spring.
“Never has it been more important to get a flu shot than this year,” Toomey said. “We’re trying to prevent twin-demics of COVID plus influenza, which could be devastating.”
Schools across the state are undertaking a mix of online and in-person classes to start the year, while businesses and social gatherings remain under capacity amid sanitization restrictions that have been in place for months.
Kemp, who has faced criticism for relaxing business restrictions earlier than other states, on Wednesday touted job gains seen since July as well as steady state revenue collections in recent months. He also noted Georgia’s unemployment rate of 5.6% is below the national average.
“We have worked hard to protect people and their paychecks,” Kemp said. “And yes, we can do both.”
As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 324,000 people had tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel strain of coronavirus that sparked a global pandemic. It had killed 7,229 Georgians.
A survey is open to solicit feedback from Georgia students, parents, teachers and community members on whether year-end test scores should be nixed, kept the same or cut in half during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The survey comes after the state Board of Education took steps last week to reduce by half how much the annual Georgia Milestones tests count toward students’ final grades, from the usual weight of 20% down to 10%.
That was less grade-weight trimming than was pushed by State School Superintendent Richard Woods, who originally recommended the scores count for 0.01% – or as close to zero as state law allows.
The survey asks whether Georgians would support keeping the year-end test’s score weights at 20%, 10% or 0.01%.
The survey is open through Nov. 16. It is required before the education board can make final changes to the year-end test scores.
The move to water down the test scores came after the U.S. Department of Education rejected Georgia’s request to scrap the tests entirely this year, saying the tests provide important data used for assessing student and teacher performance.
Woods slammed that decision, arguing the tests this year have become moot, burdensome and costly due to the disparities in learning environments caused by the coronavirus pandemic, which has prompted many schools to continue teaching via out-of-school virtual formats.
“Georgia will abide by federal law, but we are not going to layer additional stress and burden onto our students and teachers during this time,” Woods said in a recent statement.
Others have also argued the tests may not cover what students are learning this year due to the challenges many teachers face in holding classes online and, as a result, could unfairly affect students’ grade-point averages and college scholarship opportunities.
But the state board, which must approve the changes, balked at Woods’ proposal last week and voted to cut the grade weights by half rather than knock them down to zero.
Several board members said the tests could still provide useful performance data despite the pandemic’s impacts and that students would not be motivated to take the tests if they did not count for anything.
“I’m not ready to give up on this year,” said Mike Royal, a 10-year board member who runs an insurance and risk-management firm in the Atlanta area.
The board’s decision came despite several local superintendents who urged approval for Wood’s 0.01% grade proposal. Woods said he “strongly” disagreed with the board’s vote.
“I am confident our high-school students whose GPAs and scholarships are riding on this decision would agree that a 10% weight is still high stakes,” Woods said. “I encourage all Georgians, whether they agree or disagree with my view, to provide their feedback through the public-comment process and let their voice be heard.”
Rev. Raphael Warnock (right) rallies with Jon Ossoff (left) at a joint campaign stop in DeKalb County in Georgia’s U.S. Senate races on Oct. 3, 2020. (Photo by Beau Evans)
Democratic U.S. Senate contenders in Georgia rallied Saturday to hand out yard signs and push for consolidating the state’s left-leaning voter population ahead of the Nov. 3 election.
Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, both Democrats vying to unseat Republican senators this election cycle, linked arms in the Atlanta suburb of Lithonia Saturday morning in one of a burgeoning number of in-person campaign events being held by top Democratic candidates amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Warnock, the senior pastor of Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, has held mostly online video rallies and townhalls so far in his campaign against U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, the Atlanta businesswoman who was appointed in December to hold the seat of retired U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson until November.
But Saturday’s joint in-person appearance in Dekalb County by Warnock and Ossoff, the investigative journalist challenging U.S. Sen. David Perdue, signaled the two Democratic frontrunners are ready to engage more directly with voters in their respective Senate races roughly a month out from Election Day – and to do it wearing masks.
“I think that the science is very clear that masks work,” Warnock said Saturday.
“This virus is neither red or blue, Democrat or Republican,” Warnock continued. “It’s a virus. And the best thing we can do for one another – the most patriotic thing we can do – is put on a mask, socially distance, wash our hands and take care of our neighbors.”
The several-dozen people in attendance handing out signs Saturday in support of Warnock and Ossoff all wore masks and conducted their activities outdoors, marking a contrast between Republican candidates and incumbents who have taken a more cavalier approach to masking.
Loeffler, speaking with U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee at a Forsyth County restaurant Friday, stated she will not require masks to be worn among attendees at her campaign events despite the positive COVID-19 test results this week of President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump.
“I have had twenty-three Delta (Airlines) flights since May 4th,” Loeffler said Friday. “It is safe to be out and about if you take those precautions. And we should. We have to reopen the economy.”
“The Democrats want to keep us locked down,” Loeffler continued. “We have to find ways to manage through this. I would just encourage Georgians to keep a level head and make sure they’re being cognizant of [health] guidelines.”
Collins, the U.S. Air Force Reserve chaplain and Republican who is waging a fierce campaign against Loeffler for Georgia’s share of conservative votes, has also declined to require masks at his campaign events.
“We encourage people to be safe in ways they are comfortable with,” said Collins campaign spokesman Dan McLagan.
“Not being control-mad socialists, we are not big into requiring things,” McLagan added. “Be respectful of others, wear a mask if you wish, social distance.”
The approaches between Democrat and Republican candidates on the campaign trail this election season have been starkly different, marked by an intense focus on safety guidelines by more liberal candidates like Ossoff and Warnock and a more assertive stance on personal choice espoused by conservatives like Loeffler, Collins and Perdue.
Perdue, who like his Republican counterpart Loeffler tested negative for coronavirus Friday following news of Trump’s contraction, said he continues “to urge all Georgians to stay vigilant as we fight this virus.”
“Remember to follow the three ‘W’s’: wash your hands, watch your distance and wear your mask!” Perdue wrote on Twitter Friday.
The alliance of Ossoff’s campaign with fellow Democrat Warnock represents an unusual occurrence, given elections for Georgia’s two Senate seats normally occur in staggered years that do not overlap.
But the start-of-the-year retirement by Isakson, a Republican, has thrust both Senate seats into play and partnered Warnock and Ossoff as the state’s Democratic party seeks to solidify support – and potentially help flip the balance of power in Congress.
On Saturday, Ossoff pressed for less political divisiveness amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has crippled swaths of the economy and hounded Georgians who in many communities are venturing back out in public after more than six months of social isolation.
“This should be a time for healing and unity,” Ossoff said Saturday. “And Reverend Warnock and I are united in the effort to unite the people to focus on what matters, which is our health, our well-being [and] our prosperity.”
As of Friday afternoon, more than 320,000 people in Georgia had tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel strain of coronavirus that sparked a global pandemic. It had killed 7,106 Georgians.
Early voting in Georgia for the Nov. 3 elections starts on Oct. 12.
U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee (right) campaigns with U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler (left) in Forsyth County on Oct. 2, 2020. (Photo by Beau Evans)
U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, R-Ga., hit the campaign trail Friday to rally with fellow Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee in support of anti-abortion policies and the nominee for an open U.S. Supreme Court seat amid the backdrop of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The appearance by Loeffler and Blackburn came hours after President Donald Trump announced he and First Lady Melania Trump had tested positive for coronavirus and would quarantine for two weeks.
Both Loeffler and Blackburn said they tested negative for the highly contagious virus earlier in the day after taking rapid tests amid stops in Cobb and Forsyth counties, where they pressed for more conservative women representation in Congress.
“There is nothing that the radical left fears more than a strong conservative woman,” Loeffler said at a stop at Black Diamond Grill in Cumming, Ga.
Loeffler is waging a fierce battle with Republican challenger U.S. Rep. Doug Collins to woo conservative Georgia voters ahead of the upcoming Nov. 3 special election. Loeffler, an Atlanta businesswoman, is facing around 20 other contenders for her seat after being appointed in December to fill the remainder of retired U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson’s term.
A Collins campaign spokesman brushed off Blackburn’s show of support for Loeffler, saying: “Who’s Marsha?”
Collins has crisscrossed the state since summer in a bid to pull enough conservative voters from Loeffler to make an expected January runoff for the Senate seat. He has touted his background as a U.S. Air Force Reserve chaplain, the son of a state trooper and his staunch backing of Trump, including the president’s Supreme Court pick in Amy Coney Barrett, who many Republicans hope will vote to overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion on demand.
“Let’s get Amy Coney Barrett confirmed,” Collins said in a recent Facebook post. “Let’s stop the killing.”
Barrett’s nomination is being watched closely for its potential to swing the court in favor of more conservative justices.
Collins has pounced on Loeffler for her co-ownership of the women’s professional basketball team Atlanta Dream that once held a promotional event benefitting the pro-choice group Planned Parenthood, which is typically portrayed as a villain by conservative politicians.
Loeffler has dismissed that criticism, maintaining that among her top priorities if elected to keep her seat would be to fight pro-choice groups and policies, particularly Planned Parenthood.
Asked if her main interest in confirming Barrett would be to end abortion protections, Loeffler said she couldn’t speak for the court nominee but favors her strict constitutionalist approach to the bench.
“I believe myself that that would mean protecting the unborn,” Loeffler said Friday. “That’s what I stand for. That’s what I hope can happen. But I cannot speak for Judge Barrett on that.”
Loeffler also said she would not require attendees at her campaign events going forward to wear masks despite the president’s coronavirus contraction, though she said she “encourages all Georgians to wear a mask.”
Meanwhile, Democratic frontrunner Rev. Raphael Warnock has seen a recent surge in the polls that suggests he’s pulling slightly ahead of Collins and Loeffler, though likely not enough to gain the 50% vote majority needed in November to avoid a runoff.
Warnock, the senior pastor at Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, has been campaigning lately alongside fellow Democratic Senate candidate Jon Ossoff, the investigative journalist challenging U.S. Sen. David Perdue in the Nov. 3 general election.
Echoing Democratic candidates nationwide, Warnock has sought to elevate access to health care and health insurance as a top issue in the Senate race, noting he would cast votes to strengthen the Affordable Care Act with a public option.
Warnock’s campaign announced this week he had raised nearly $13 million in campaign donations since July, upping his total haul to more than $17 million. That amount should help him compete down the stretch for ad space with Loeffler, who has committed $20 million of her own money to her campaign and aired high-priced ads funded by allied political action committees.
“The next justice appointed to the Supreme Court could determine the future of health care,” Warnock said in a recent statement. “Whether protections for pre-existing conditions remains the law of the land rests in the hands of the Supreme Court, and Georgians cannot afford a senator who has tried to overturn the [Affordable Care Act] and end those protections to be our voice in appointing the nation’s new justice.”
State school officials balked Thursday at approving steps that would wipe out the weighted grades for year-end tests amid the COVID-19 pandemic, choosing instead to cut those grade weights in half from their usual amount.
The push to water down the tests comes after State School Superintendent Richard Woods blasted the U.S. Department of Education for requiring the tests this school year, which he said would put extra pressure on students and teachers already struggling to keep up coursework with online classes and overhauled in-person learning environments.
Woods proposed reducing the grade weights of the annual Georgia Milestones tests to 0.01%, which is the lowest state law allows. Normally, the tests count 20% toward students’ final grades.
“Because we have so many learning platforms and approaches to learning this year, these tests will not mean anything as far as information,” Woods said Wednesday.
“I think it’s just unconscionable that we give a test,” he added. “But I have to give a test. We have to follow federal law.”
But the state Board of Education, which had to approve Woods’ proposal first, voted at a meeting Thursday to make the year-end tests count for 10%. That decision was made after several board members expressed concerns about gutting the tests entirely.
Board members will need to vote on the 10% grade-weight proposal again next month for it to take effect.
Mike Royal, who has served on the board for a decade, said he fears many students will slack off if the test does not count. He echoed several board members in wishing to split the difference and support 10% grade weights.
“I’m not ready to give up on this year,” Royal said.
Another member, Trey Allen, disagreed with Woods that the test would be useless in terms of comparing results year over year for student performance assessment. He also questioned whether allowing students to essentially blow off a test would be the right message to send.
“I think we need a snapshot of this moment in time to see where we are,” Allen said.
Others backed Woods’ proposal, noting poor grades prompted by the unprecedented learning environments caused by the virus could hurt students’ scholarship chances and potential future work opportunities.
“Personally, I have a real difficult time holding students accountable [and] holding teachers accountable for this compromised learning environment,” said the board’s chair, Scott Sweeney.
The issue stems from a letter sent Sept. 3, U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos in which she told Georgia school officials they “should not anticipate” receiving approval to scrap the annual assessments this year, citing the need to maintain performance standards and data-tracking for student achievement.
Georgia officials submitted the testing waiver request in June to abstain from year-end tests as the state’s roughly 2,800 public schools grapple with resuming classes online and in-person amid the virus. The waiver request drew broad support from students, parents, teachers and other Georgians who were recently surveyed.
Many state and local school officials have argued the tests not only add extra stress to the current virus-impacted school year, but also require Georgia to spend millions of dollars to administer the tests at a time when school budgets are being slashed due to the economic downturn.
The state board approved a $17.3-million contract Thursday related to preparing the tests through the end of March 2021. Officials will have to request more funding from state lawmakers to spend even more money on the tests after March.
Prior to the board’s vote, superintendents from several local school districts turned out for Thursday’s board meeting to voice their support for gutting the year-end tests.
Morcease Beasley, the superintendent at Clayton County Schools, says his district’s roughly 55,000 students are feeling the strain after months of online learning and could use a break from the normal stress of the tests.
“We’re at a point where I just want kids to focus on learning,” Beasley said. “That’s really where my heart is for our community.”
Some educators who spoke Thursday said the tests may not even cover what students have been learning in class this year, given the challenges of matching every student with an equal virtual learning experience.
“We feel right now the last thing we need to be focusing on is accountability and assessment,” said Kelli Kendrick, chief academic officer at Calhoun City Schools. “We need to make sure that we’re maximizing our instruction and focusing on what matters.”
Others like Mary Lyn Huffman, whose son is a senior at Marietta High School, argued forcing students to take tests that may involve material they have not been taught could drive down Georgia’s overall achievement scores and jeopardize scholarship opportunities.
