Coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Georgia. (Image: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
ATLANTA – State and federal officials are hustling to increase the supply of hospital beds and coronavirus tests in Georgia ahead of an anticipated peak surge in COVID-19 patients in the coming weeks, Gov. Brian Kemp said Monday.
The governor highlighted a push by local hospitals and federal authorities to set up hundreds more beds to handle the patient surge projected for May 1, including 200 intensive care “pods” at the Georgia World Congress Center.
Meanwhile, diagnostic test results “continue to lag” despite a dramatic increase in the number and speed of tests conducted in recent days, Kemp said. More testing will be critical to maintain safety and track possible new outbreaks after people start going back to work, he said.
The combination of more beds and more testing should both bolster the state’s ability to handle the expected hospital surge and help Georgians bounce back more quickly once transmissions of the highly infectious virus begin to subside, Kemp said.
“We need to be firing on all cylinders to prepare for the days and weeks ahead,” Kemp said at a news conference Monday afternoon.
The governor did not speculate on when the state’s shelter-in-place order will ultimately be lifted. The current order is set to run through April, but Kemp has the ability to extend it. He has already done so once.
As of noon Monday, more than 13,000 people in Georgia had tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel strain of coronavirus that sparked a global pandemic. It has killed 464 Georgians.
Based on current forecasting models, Georgia looks to be “in good shape” for a medium-range projection of needed hospital beds, said Georgia National Guard Adj. Gen. Thomas Carden. But the situation would change for the worse if the state approaches higher-range projections for patient surge, he said.
Georgia is currently forecast to fall short by more 200 beds of the roughly 800 ICU beds the state will likely need on May 1, according to a frequently cited model run by the University of Washington.
To date, according to Kemp, Georgia has a statewide inventory among its hospitals and temporary field sites of 2,617 emergency-room beds, 929 critical-care beds and nearly 6,000 general in-patient beds.
The temporary facility being set up at the World Congress Center will act as a “relief valve” for hospital overflow, Carden said.
“I frankly pray that we don’t need it,” Carden said Monday. “But I will tell you that it’s going to be in place and it’s going to be able to support you.”
The governor said other temporary medical units that the state purchased will be ready for use in the coming weeks in Rome, Albany, Gainesville and Macon.
The state has also completed roughly 57,000 diagnostic tests, mostly processed in commercial labs. The number of tests has increased substantially in recent days due to tighter coordination between the state health lab and private companies and speedier turnaround times at many local hospitals.
On Monday, Dr. Kathleen Toomey, the state’s public health commissioner, directed regional health departments to expand testing criteria so that tests can be given to more people than only the state’s most at-risk populations.
Tests can now be given to people who do not show symptoms of the virus but who were exposed to others who are showing symptoms, Kemp said. Tests can also be given to people working in certain jobs considered “critical infrastructure” who show symptoms.
By the end of this week, people who fit those criteria and want to be tested can call their local health agency to schedule an appointment and do not need a doctor’s referral first, Toomey said.
“We recognized that we had probably made it a little too hard for people to get in because we were requiring people to get a referral from a physician,” she said.
Georgia Democratic Party leaders are pushing for state election officials to send absentee ballots to every voter and pay for postage ahead of the delayed June 9 primary as concerns over coronavirus remain strong.
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office has begun mailing absentee ballot request forms to Georgia’s roughly 7 million registered voters for the June 9 presidential and general primaries, which were previously scheduled for May 19. Once those forms are completed and returned, state officials will then send voters their absentee ballots.
That process is not proactive enough, say Georgia Democratic leaders. They are calling for Raffensperger to skip mailing request forms and go straight to sending voters their absentee ballots.
They are also urging Raffensperger and state officials to provide prepaid postage with the absentee ballots, rather than leave it up to voters to buy a stamp.
Those steps would help boost participation, confidence and safer voting practices while coronavirus continues posing severe health risks, said state Sen. Nikema Williams, who chairs the Democratic Party of Georgia.
“We just can’t ask voters to choose between their democracy and their health,” Williams, D-Atlanta, said in a phone conference Friday. “It is imperative that we do both.”
Williams and the party’s voter protection director, Saira Draper, also called for election officials to send out absentee ballots to all voters through the rest of this year, one of the busiest election seasons in Georgia history with local, state, congressional and both U.S. Senate seats up for grabs.
Delaying the primaries now set for June 9 will not be enough to ensure voter safety and integrity, Williams said, since it is unclear when the highly infectious virus will cease to pose a major public health concern.
“We support reforms, not continued delays that will be confusing to Georgia voters,” Williams said Friday.
Raffensperger has twice postponed Georgia’s presidential primary, which was originally scheduled for March 24. On Thursday, he announced a three-week delay of both the presidential primary and state and local primary elections that had been set for May 19. Every primary contest is now scheduled for June 9.
Raffensperger, a Republican, made the move amid mounting pressure from top Republican leaders in the state like House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, and all 11 of Georgia’s Republican congressional members, who said the May 19 date could imperil poll workers and voters.
The secretary of state’s decision also came amid reports that many poll workers, who tend to be older adults most at risk from the virus, might not show up on Election Day to protect themselves from infection.
“This decision allows our office and county election officials to continue to put in place contingency plans to ensure that voting can be safe and secure when in-person voting begins and prioritizes the health and safety of voters, county election officials and poll workers,” Raffensperger said in a statement Thursday.
Georgia Secretary of State is delaying the presidential and general to June 9, 2020. (Photo by Beau Evans)
ATLANTA – Georgia’s primary election set for May 19 will be postponed three weeks to June 9 due to health and safety concerns over coronavirus, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced Thursday.
The move came after Gov. Brian Kemp extended the state’s public health emergency status another month to May 13, a step Raffensperger said was legally necessary before the primary could be delayed.
“This decision allows our office and county election officials to continue to put in place contingency plans to ensure that voting can be safe and secure when in-person voting begins and prioritizes the health and safety of voters, county election officials and poll workers,” Raffensperger said in a statement Thursday.
Early voting for the primary now starts May 18. Voter registration will end May 11.
Raffensperger’s office is sending absentee ballot applications to every Georgia voter. Requests for mail-in ballots that have already been sent in will still be valid to receive an absentee ballot for the June 9 election, Raffensperger’s office said in a news release.
The June 9 primary is poised to be the first statewide test of Georgia’s new voting machines, which involve touchscreens and scanners that officials have hailed as a secure, paper-based voting process.
Without a delay, the primary election featuring presidential, state and local primary contests scheduled for May 19 faced a scenario in which many poll workers may not have shown up to staff voting precincts.
Poll workers on average tend to be older adults who are more at risk of harmful impacts from COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel strain of coronavirus that has sickened thousands of Georgians and killed hundreds.
On Thursday, Raffensperger said his office has fielded “reports of mounting difficulties” that county elections officials were struggling to have precincts ready in-person early voting set to begin April 27, ahead of a May 19 election.
The three-week delay gives state and county election officials more time to train poll workers, distribute cleaning supplies and draw backup plans for any possible issues.
“Just like our brave health-care workers and first responders, our county election officials and poll workers are undertaking work critical to our democracy, and they will continue to do this critical work with all the challenges that the current crisis has brought forth,” Raffensperger said.
It’s the second time the state’s presidential primary will be delayed after originally being set for March 24.
Raffensperger’s office indicated delaying it and the local primaries again would be tough, since holding the primaries past June 9 could conflict with federal law requiring certain deadlines for runoff results and ballot creation to be met for the Nov. 3 general election.
“I certainly realize that every difficulty will not be completely solved by the time in-person voting begins for the June 9 election, but elections must happen even in less than ideal circumstances,” Raffensperger said.
Raffensperger, a Republican, faced increasing pressure in recent weeks from influential Republican lawmakers including House Speaker David Ralston and all 11 of Georgia’s Republican congressional members to push back the primary to mid-June.
Until Thursday, Raffensperger said he would need the governor to extend the public health emergency beyond its original April 13 expiration date before he could delay the primary, though legislative counsel for the General Assembly disputed that legal interpretation.
Kemp signed an executive order Wednesday extending the emergency status through May 13, which Raffensperger said cleared the way for him to act.
Georgia Democratic leaders, meanwhile, had previously opposed a delay past May 19, arguing state officials should instead focus on bolstering absentee voting.
Raffensperger’s decision also followed an intense national backlash in Wisconsin, where a primary election was held Tuesday despite efforts from Wisconsin’s governor to delay it. News reports showed long lines of voters wearing face masks in the middle of the worst period of the coronavirus outbreak, sparking anguish over the potential health dangers and accusations of voter suppression.
Coronavirus has sickened thousands of people and killed hundreds in Georgia. (Image: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
ATLANTA – Gov. Brian Kemp announced Wednesday he plans to extend Georgia’s shelter-in-place order through the rest of April as coronavirus continues to spread and hit local hospitals hard.
The action will leave social and business restrictions that took effect last Friday in place through April 30. Georgia public schools and colleges remain closed for in-person classes for the rest of the school year.
Inside areas of restaurants, bars and other popular gathering spots are also closed. Grocery stores, pharmacies and restaurants providing delivery and take-out services can still operate. Kemp’s shelter-in-place order also gives businesses leeway to continue minimal operations to stay financially afloat.
Able to issue more extensions, Kemp did not have a hard date Wednesday for when the shelter-in-place order might ultimately end. At a news conference, he said that will depend on how well people keep their distance from each other and practice good sanitary habits.
“There is no playbook for this pandemic that we are facing in our state right now,” Kemp said. “But we will continue to use data, science and the advice of health-care officials to guide our steps toward a safer, healthier and more prosperous future in our state.”
As of noon Wednesday, roughly 9,000 people had tested positive in Georgia for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel strain of coronavirus that has sparked a global pandemic. The virus had killed 362 Georgians.
Georgia is hustling to pump more supplies and bed space into local hospitals ahead of April 23, when models predict the state’s hospitals will see their highest surge of patients infected with coronavirus.
State officials are still tapping into the national stockpile of masks, gloves and ventilators while also buying shipments from private vendors, said Homer Bryson, director of the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency.
Hospital leaders are combing their properties for unused space to set up more critical-care beds, Kemp said. On Thursday, health officials will start working with the private company Ipsum Diagnostics to boost the speed and number of coronavirus tests at Georgia’s public health labs.
Kemp said Wednesday he is authorizing 1,000 Georgia National Guard members to deploy in Georgia “to assist with the COVID-19 response.”
More than 100 National Guard members have been on duty since last week to boost disease-control measures in elderly care facilities, where the virus has already caused dozens of outbreaks among the state’s most vulnerable population.
Kemp said Wednesday he is also ordering new mandatory rules for elderly care facilities governing visitation, sanitation procedures, health screenings for employees and residents, wearing protective gear and isolating residents with symptoms.
On another topic related to the coronavirus pandemic, Kemp did not say Wednesday whether he would push Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to delay Georgia’s primary election, currently set for May 19. The governor said that decision is up to Raffensperger.
Raffensperger has said several times the governor must extend the state’s public health emergency before he can act on postponing the primary under state law, though legislative counsel for the General Assembly has disputed that legal interpretation. Kemp announced earlier Wednesday an extension of the emergency status through May 13, more than two weeks after early voting starts in late April.
Raffensperger’s office did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday on whether he is considering delaying the primary.
Meanwhile, new restrictions on church services could be on the way later this week, Kemp hinted. While most congregations have moved services online, Kemp noted local authorities have needed to disperse some church services since the shelter-in-place order took effect last week.
“I hope I don’t have to be in a position where I have to do that,” Kemp said Wednesday, referring to potentially ordering mandatory closures for in-person church services.
The governor is also poised to order a shutdown of vacation and short-term property rentals involving stays of 30 days or less, starting midnight Wednesday and lasting through April 30. The order will not include hotels or camping grounds and exempts short-term rentals that have already been purchased and booked before midday on April 9, Kemp said.
That move came in response to concerns over beaches remaining open under the statewide shelter-in-place order, Kemp acknowledged Wednesday. The governor pledged he would close beaches if attendance grows too high, but he said that has not happened so far.
“We know exactly how many people are on the beaches at all times of the day,” Kemp said.
Sen. Jack Hill, R-Reidsville, was the longtime chairman of the state Senate Appropriations Committee. He died on the evening of April 6, 2020. (Officials Georgia Senate photo)
Sen. Jack Hill was a humble grocer from rural Georgia who rose to become one of the state’s most powerful lawmakers.
He never took credit for a legislative triumph, even though everyone knew it was he who got it done. And he had impeccable penmanship.
These are among the many recollections of friends, colleagues and cataloguers who knew the 75-year-old state senator as a towering figure in Georgia politics who buried his pride and burned the midnight oil to get the budget passed each year.
He scored money for libraries, parks, fishing spots, schools, roads and an airport runway in Southwest Georgia. He saw to it that millions of dollars in construction funds went to state colleges like his alma mater, Georgia Southern University. He led the Senate side of the budget-setting equation in the General Assembly for almost two decades.
And he did it quietly, without any fuss or glory, according to those who knew him.
“It kind of bothers me that he’s no longer with us,” said Billy Trapnell, the former mayor of Metter and a friend of Hill. “The people of Georgia will miss something special and may not even know it.”
Hill, R-Reidsville, was found dead in his office around 5:30 p.m. Monday, said Tattnall County Sheriff Kyle Sapp. His legacy was quickly hailed throughout Georgia by business leaders, educators and elected officials like Gov. Brian Kemp, who described him as “a gentle giant.”
State Rep. Bill Werkheiser, who shared a district boundary with Hill, recalled the many Sunday nights he arrived in Atlanta for the legislative session after a three-hour drive from his home in Glennville to find a lone light on in the state Capitol building. It would always be Hill, working on the budget.
“There was no one who put in more work and did more hours,” said Werkheiser, R-Glennville. “This one’s a kick in the gut.”
“He always did it so quietly,” Werkheiser added. “And if it was ever brought up, he was always giving credit to anybody but him.”
Hill immediately became one of the legislature’s most influential members in 2003 when he was made chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, tasked with overseeing lengthy and often testy negotiations each year over the state budget.
First elected as a Democrat, Hill had switched parties after the 2002 elections, helping Republicans capture a majority in the Senate they still hold today. He held onto the budget-writing post until his death.
Many who knew Hill marveled at the small-town grocer’s ability to manage billions of dollars in the state budget. Often, he saw local issues as opportunities to improve financing for services across the state.
Trapnell, whose tenure as Metter mayor from 1994 through 2017 overlapped with Hill, recalled an occasion when Hill was asked to help drum up money for construction of a local library. Setting aside money in the budget specifically for that library would have been “no problem” for Hill, Trapnell said.
But after hearing from the state librarian about the rough conditions facing all of Georgia’s public libraries, Hill decided a better approach would be to open up grant funding that any library in the state could apply for, not just one in his backyard.
“So many libraries got fixed,” Trapnell said. “He truly cared about the people of Georgia.”
First elected in 1990, Hill was among the longest serving lawmakers in the General Assembly at the time of his death. He represented the 4th Senate District covering several Southeast Georgia counties including Tattnall, Evans, Bulloch, Candler, Emanuel and Effingham.
Local luminaries in Hill’s district guessed the smart grocer from Reidsville would do well at the Capitol, said Mickey Peace, publisher of The Claxton Enterprise. But with his soft-spoken nature, few foresaw the heights he would reach.
“Quiet, unassuming, with an ‘aw shucks’ demeanor and boyish good looks, I think he practiced well the art of political persuasion without the public controversy that often dogs those who seek and hold office,” Peace said.
Newspaper reporters, editors and publishers could always count on Hill answering his phone or calling back whenever they had questions, said Pam Waters, former editor of The Glennville Sentinel. He packed his answers with keen insights on the budget, local business matters or Georgia agriculture, always mindful to be courteous and respectful with reporters.
“He was a politician like you just don’t find anymore,” said Carvy Snell, publisher of The Metter Advertiser. “If he was working on something, you knew it was going to be done by the book.”
Others, particularly in the General Assembly, saw Hill as a mentor. Sen. Blake Tillery, whose Vidalia-based district borders Hill’s, said he spent countless hours working with the veteran lawmaker and because the younger Tillery “simply would not leave his office.”
Hill taught the old-school skills of statesmanship, Tillery said, from replying personally to constituent calls and emails to showing other lawmakers the legislative ropes to displaying a “penmanship [that] was frame-worthy.”
“All while managing to write a budget for our state,” said Tillery, R-Vidalia.
“He could literally change the direction of the Senate through a leaning of his head,” Tillery said. “He is irreplaceable. His shoes will never be filled.”
Sen. Jack Hill, R-Reidsville, was the longtime chairman of the state Senate Appropriations Committee. He died on the evening of April 6, 2020. (Officials Georgia Senate photo)
Sen. Jack Hill, one of the longest-serving members of the General Assembly, who led efforts in the Senate to draft the state’s annual budget since 2003, died on Monday. He was 75.
Hill was found deceased at his office Monday evening, said Tattnall County Sheriff Kyle Sapp. Authorities do not suspect foul play or that his death was in any way related to coronavirus.
Hill’s death was confirmed by multiple state officials Monday night including Gov. Brian Kemp, Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan and House Speaker David Ralston.
Hill, R-Reidsville, was among the longest serving lawmakers in the General Assembly at the time of his passing. He was also one of the legislature’s most influential members, tasked with overseeing lengthy and often testy negotiations each year of the state budget as chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Words of praise and mourning poured from Hill’s colleagues at the state Capitol Monday night, shortly after Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan announced Hill’s passing in a message on Twitter sent around 7:15 p.m.
“For three decades, Georgians have benefited from his leadership and his calm and steady hand at the helm,” Duncan said in a statement. “He exhibited all the characteristics we hope for in a leader and was a true friend to all. Jack always ensured we were good stewards of taxpayer dollars, but it was more than that, he led with kindness and clarity.”
Hill was first elected to the Senate as a Democrat in 1990 and switched to the Republican Party in 2002. He was a grocer from rural Reidsville in Southeast Georgia and formerly chaired the Tattnall County Development Authority.
Hill was in the middle of complicated budget preparations that already involved challenging spending cuts before coronavirus hit Georgia on its pandemic march across the world. Lawmakers, especially Hill, were poised to reconvene in the near future for budget overhauling to account for the devastating economic impacts the virus is causing.
Kemp, in remarks on Twitter, called Hill “a gentle giant” who “was one of the kindest, most thoughtful people I ever served with.”
“His loss is devastating to our state, but he leaves behind an unmatched legacy of hard work and public service,” the governor said. “Please pray for his loved ones, colleagues and community.”
Ralston, the House speaker, described Hill as “one of the finest public servants I have known.”
“Quiet, studious, thorough, he exemplified the best in a leader,” said Ralston, R-Blue Ridge. “Senator Hill served with integrity. Georgia has lost one of its finest and I have lost a friend and a mentor.”
