Georgia House Speaker David Ralston has
doubled down on his request to delay the state’s primary elections by about a
month due to concerns over coronavirus, after the state’s elections chief
balked at that request last week.
In a letter Sunday, Ralston reiterated his stance that holding the primary election on May 19 could endanger voters and poll workers who might be exposed to the highly infectious respiratory virus at voting precincts. He asked Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to reschedule the primaries for June 16.
The House speaker, in his letter, noted
Georgia has thousands of precincts requiring thousands more poll workers to
make sure Election Day runs smoothly. Many of those poll workers are older
adults who face greater risks from harmful health effects from COVID-19, the
disease caused by the novel strain of coronavirus that has caused a global
pandemic.
“I know there is a plan to provide them
with cleaning supplies and to practice social distancing, but a delay of a
month would allow more time for testing, health responses and other
precautions,” Ralston said.
As of noon Monday, 2,809 people have tested positive for the virus in Georgia. It has killed 87 people. On Sunday, President Donald Trump extended federal guidelines for so-called social distancing throughout all of April for the entire country.
Raffensperger earlier this month pushed the date of the presidential primary back to May 19, coinciding with party primaries for state and local offices. At the time, Raffensperger said state law allowed him to do so as part of a disaster declarations authorized by Gov. Brian Kemp and Trump that free up emergency executive powers to curb the spread of coronavirus.
But Raffensperger stopped short late last
week of agreeing to delay the presidential and state primaries any further,
noting in a Facebook message Saturday that doing so would raise serious legal
and practical issues.
Pushing back the presidential primary
along with state and local primaries would require Kemp to extend the state’s
public health emergency past its current April 13 deadline, Raffensperger
pointed out. The governor has not yet indicated whether he might seek a 30-day
extension of that emergency status, which would require the General Assembly to
reconvene for a special session to approve it.
Delaying the primaries would also
complicate scheduling for the Nov. 3 general election in the event of any
primary runoffs. A late-August runoff could run afoul of federal rules for when
ballots must be created for the general election, Raffensperger said.
Raffensperger also stressed that state
law only allows him to delay elections for 45 days, plus concerns he has
fielded from state Democratic and Republican party leaders worried a prolonged
primary schedule could conflict with their respective national conventions. The
Republican convention is set for late August and the Democratic convention for
mid-July.
The secretary of state highlighted steps he is taking to boost absentee ballot use to discourage voters from showing up at in-person voting precincts, as well as “ordering disinfectant wipes and sprays” to help keep precincts sanitized.
“The goal is to provide counties
additional resources to handle the increased interest in absentee voting while
simultaneously helping them cope with the increased difficulties of in-person
voting due to social distancing, thus minimizing risks to poll workers and
in-person voters,” Raffensperger said.
Ralston, however, countered in his letter
Sunday that Raffensperger already moved the presidential primary back more than
45 days – from March 24 to May 19 – and would still have authority to order an
additional delay since a federal disaster declaration is also currently in
place, on top of the state’s public health emergency.
The speaker also suggested state party
leaders might be open to a delay even if it conflicts with national convention
representation.
“I recognize that while a [presidential
primary] held on June 16 would be after the national and state parties require
that take place, it seems there is a willingness to address those rules based
on the safety concerns for the election process because of COVID-19,” Ralston
said.
Gov. Brian Kemp calls for vulnerable residents to take precautions as coronavirus spreads in Georgia. (Photo by Beau Evans)
With much of Georgia self-quarantining to
curb the spread of coronavirus, Gov. Brian Kemp and other officials urged the
state’s residents Thursday night to keep practicing social distancing and
personal hygiene as medical supplies run low in hospitals and test results
remain slow.
As of Thursday night, the respiratory
virus had infected 1,643 people and killed 56 in Georgia. The growing number of
patients has taxed the state’s hospitals, particularly in rural areas where
protective gear and intensive-care beds are already in short supply.
Businesses in Georgia have shuttered,
prompting thousands of people to file unemployment claims with the state
Department of Insurance. Public schools that were set to reopen April 1 after a
two-week closure will now stay closed through April 24, per Kemp’s orders.
Health experts have warned the virus
could last for weeks if not months longer and potentially return later in the
year for a second wave as the summer heat passes. Most at risk from dangerous
health impacts from the virus are elderly persons and people with chronic
illnesses.
At a televised town hall Thursday night, Kemp
acknowledged the state needs to boost testing for COVID-19. But he heeded
people across Georgia regardless of the number of positive cases to limit their
physical interactions with other people – a practice called social distancing –
and to protect those with fragile health conditions like the elderly and
chronically ill.
“It is going to be us as Georgians
to beat this virus back,” Kemp said. “There’s no cure
right now, there’s no vaccine, and it is up to all of us to get educated and to
do our part to be victorious in this battle.”
“I can promise you,” he added, “we are doing everything within our power in the state.”
The town hall, which dozens of television
and radio stations carried across the state, included appearances from the
governor, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, state Commissioner of Public
Health Dr. Kathleen Toomey and state Emergency Management Director Homer
Bryson.
Earlier this week, Kemp issued an
executive order requiring many of the state’s most vulnerable populations to
remain indoors and isolated through midday April 6. His shelter-in-place order
applies to people living in nursing homes or long-term care facilities and
people with chronic lung disease or who are currently undergoing cancer
treatment.
The shelter-in-place order also applies
to anyone who has tested positive for coronavirus, is showing symptoms of the virus,
or who has been in close contact with someone who has the virus or is showing
symptoms of it.
The governor has faced criticism from
many state lawmakers and others who want him to issue a statewide
shelter-in-place order. On Wednesday, 36 Democrats in the Georgia House sent
Kemp a letter urging him to take more drastic measures to keep people separated
while the COVID-19 wave rolls over the state.
So far, Kemp has opted to let local
government officials decide whether to impose more restrictive stay-at-home measures
for their areas. Many places like Atlanta and Savannah have already chosen to
do so.
Kemp said Thursday he could take more
drastic action if needed, but that federal guidelines and many health experts
continue to recommend leaving social and business restrictions up to local
officials.
“I still have arrows in the quiver, if
you will, if things get worse,” Kemp said.
Bottoms, responding to a question on
whether the state should follow Atlanta’s lead, said she supports Kemp’s
decision but suggested she might step up restrictions statewide if given the
chance.
“If it were my call, I would have a stay-at-home order for
the entire country,” Bottoms said. “But obviously, that is not my call.”
As with states across the country,
testing for the virus has been limited in Georgia. Nearly 9,000 tests had been
completed statewide as of Thursday night, mostly by commercial labs. Health
experts have called for more testing to help local public health agencies keep
better track of where exactly the virus is spreading.
Kemp said Thursday he expects the state
to have a substantial number of tests completed within the next week or so, but
that the turnaround time for results of between four and five days on average is
still too long.
“We need that test to get back in two
days or a day,” Kemp said.
With medical supplies running low, Kemp
has called on local businesses to step up production and donations of tightly
perforated N-95 masks, ventilators, hospital gowns, gloves, goggles, hand
sanitizers and other items.
Toomey, the state public health
commissioner, said Thursday state officials are working to pump local hospitals
with more medical equipment from the national stockpile and by tapping into
existing ventilators used as teaching tools in technical colleges.
“We’re actually trying to amass the needed amounts before it
comes to that crisis point,” Toomey said.
Toomey did not have a specific count for
how many ventilators total Georgia hospitals may need to avoid the kind of
severe shortage now facing New York, where officials have estimated they need 30,000
more ventilators than they have currently.
“We have a chance to mitigate this in a way that perhaps
they didn’t,” Toomey said, referring to New York.
Outside the Atlanta metro area, the virus
has hit parts of northwest Georgia around Cartersville and Rome and further
south around Albany especially hard.
Roughly one-third of the 48 people who were
reported to have died from coronavirus through noon Thursday in Georgia were
treated at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital in Albany. Another roughly 1,300
people in the Albany area are still awaiting results.
Faced with an influx of patients, medical
staff at Phoebe Putney have had to fabricate sturdier breathing masks and
coordinate with other hospitals in the state to take patients as ICU beds fill
up.
Kemp said the best way to help hospitals
like Phoebe Putney cut down on the patient influx is to keep the virus from
spreading through voluntary isolation and social distancing.
“It’s really up to the public to cut down
on the number of people who have to go to the hospital,” Kemp said.
Sen. Lester Jackson (D-Savannah) is the fifth state senator to test positive for coronavirus in Georgia. (Official Georgia Senate photo)
A fifth state senator has tested positive for coronavirus as the respiratory illness eclipsed 1,000 confirmed cases and claimed 40 lives in Georgia Wednesday.
Sen. Lester Jackson, D-Savannah, told the Savannah Morning News Wednesday that his test results came back positive after a five-day wait. Jackson said he and his wife requested the test “out of an abundance of caution” after other members of the Georgia Senate tested positive last week.
Jackson said he has shown mild symptoms including
a dry cough and has been self-quarantining since returning to Savannah
following a one-day special session of the Georgia General Assembly on March
16.
“I’ve not been out at all,” Jackson told
the newspaper. “I’m staying away from people. I want to protect family and
friends.”
First to publicly announce his COVID-19 diagnosis was Sen. Brandon Beach, R-Alpharetta, whose test results came back positive days after attending the special session. Beach appeared at the Capitol March 16 despite showing mild symptoms the week prior and being tested the preceding Saturday.
His announcement was followed by Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, R-Marietta, who alerted constituents late last Friday that she also had contracted the virus. She did not attend the special session.
Then, Sen. Nikema Williams, D-Atlanta,
who chairs the state Democratic Party, said on Facebook Sunday night that she
tested positive after developing a fever last Monday and being tested Thursday
afternoon on the top floor of the parking deck of her doctor’s office.
Sen. Bruce Thompson, R-White, also
received confirmation Sunday that he had contracted coronavirus. Thompson was
admitted to the hospital earlier this month with respiratory issues and
released over the weekend once his condition improved.
In the Georgia House, Rep. Angelika Kausche, D-Johns Creek, told the Johns Creek Herald she has likely contracted coronavirus after her husband tested positive last week. Kausche said she decided to forgo testing since materials needed for the test are in short supply.
The novel strain of coronavirus has sickened 1,247 people and led to 40 deaths in Georgia as of noon Wednesday. Many businesses across the state have ground to a halt as workers isolate themselves to help curb the virus’ spread, while several city and county governments have imposed restrictions on gatherings and restaurants.
More than 1,000 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in Georgia. (Image: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
ATLANTA – How far should Georgia go to
curb the spread of coronavirus while also protecting the economy from collapse?
It’s a question state and local leaders
are grappling with as COVID-19 continues sickening Georgians at a rapid pace
and has led to nearly three dozen deaths as of noon Tuesday.
Many officials and observers worry executive orders Gov. Brian Kemp issued this week may not go far enough to slow the virus’s transmission rate. Others say leaders across the country are left with few options due to the small number of tests that have been conducted so far.
Kemp issued an executive order Monday requiring many of the state’s most vulnerable populations to remain indoors and isolated through midday April 6. His shelter-in-place order applies to people living in nursing homes or long-term care facilities and people with chronic lung disease or who are currently undergoing cancer treatment.
The shelter-in-place order also applies for anyone who has tested positive for coronavirus, is showing symptoms of the virus, or who has been in close contact with someone who has the virus or is showing symptoms of it.
Kemp also imposed a statewide ban on bars, nightclubs and gatherings of 10 or more people unless it can be guaranteed people will stay six feet apart from each other.
His order was quickly followed by a
separate announcement from Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who imposed a
14-day stay-at-home order for all city residents Monday night. Savannah
followed suit Tuesday with a mandatory stay-at-home order effective through
April 8.
On Tuesday, the Georgia Municipal
Association pressed officials in Georgia’s 538 cities to approve stricter
limits on public gatherings and businesses than Kemp’s order requires,
including mandatory nightly curfews.
“Local leaders recognize that the
potential harm to our state’s economy, our health-care workers and first
responders, and to our most vulnerable is far greater if stringent measures
aren’t put in place across the state to slow the spread of the virus,” said
Dublin Mayor Phil Best, who is also the municipal association’s president.
In a radio interview Tuesday, Kemp said
he did not think more restrictive measures were needed yet since Georgia’s confirmed
coronavirus cases have not risen to the same degree as other states like New
York. He said he supports the decisions by local leaders like Bottoms to set
their own rules.
“I’m keeping my fingers crossed but we’re
doing relatively well here in the state of Georgia,” Kemp said. “And I feel
like we’re doing the right things at the right time to stay ahead of the
curve.”
Gov. Brian Kemp calls for vulnerable residents to take precautions as coronavirus spreads in Georgia. (Photo by Beau Evans)
Many health professionals have urged the
governor to take more drastic steps, such as Emory University’s vaccine czar,
Dr. Carlos del Rio, who took to Twitter Monday night to call on the governor
“to continue moving and to do it quickly.”
“There is not time to lose as COVID-19
advances quickly and relentlessly across the state,” said del Rio, who chairs
the Hubert Department of Global Health at Emory’s Rollins School of Public
Health.
Others have said their hospitals and
medical staffs will keep their noses to the grindstone regardless of what
social restrictions federal, state and local officials impose.
“We know that the best way to stop the
spread of the disease is for people to stay at home, especially if they are
sick,” said Dr. Stephen Thacker, associate chief medical officer at Memorial
Health University Medical Center in Savannah. “People can do that now, without
a mandate.”
Meanwhile, other experts and officials
agree Kemp and his counterparts across the country have been caught between a
rock and a hard place without more comprehensive data from testing.
Former U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn of Georgia, who
participated in pandemic simulations during the 2000s and founded the nonprofit
Nuclear Threat Initiative, called the lengthy turnaround of several days for
test results “totally unacceptable.”
The federal government must take the lead
on boosting available test kits and distributing them in far larger volumes so
that local public health agencies can keep better track of where exactly the
virus is spreading, Nunn said.
“To really get people back to work
safely, you’re going to have to have millions and millions of tests,” Nunn
said. “Until you do that, you’ve got this dilemma of strangling the economy by
strangling the virus.”
Nearly 5,500 diagnostic tests have been completed in Georgia since the state ramped up its own testing capabilities and brought on private labs to pitch in starting earlier this month. Through noon Monday, 1,026 people had tested positive for COVID-19 in the state and 32 people have died.
Beyond curfews and isolation orders,
state and local officials also need to temporarily ignore political
jurisdictions so that hospitals can serve as many people in a given area as
possible, said Grace Bagwell Adams, an associate professor of health policy and
management at the University of Georgia.
Tighter coordination between local
governments and hospitals would help spread out the treatment burden among
multiple hospitals and keep people from having to travel long distances to
receive medical care, particularly in rural areas, Adams said.
“There’s so much variation across our
state in terms of access to health care,” Adams said. “Many individuals are
driving well over an hour not just to get to a hospital, but to a physician.”
Already, epidemiologists across the world
are predicting areas could see a second outbreak of coronavirus late in the
year once the current wave slows down this summer, said Dr. Isaac Fung, an
associate professor of epidemiology at Georgia Southern University’s Jiann-Ping
Hsu College of Public Health.
Fung pointed to new measures being taken
in India, which is poised to begin a 21-day lockdown for all 1.3 billion of the
country’s residents starting at midnight Wednesday. He said the less
restrictive approach in Georgia should slow down the virus, but it will not
“break the chain of transmission.”
“I think right now in the entire country, including Georgia, people are not psychologically prepared for a lockdown,” Fung said. “People ask me, ‘Can life go back to normal in two to four weeks?’ My answer is, ‘No.’ ”
CORRECTION: This story previously stated incorrectly that Gov. Kemp’s shelter-in-place order applies for people 60-years and older. It has been corrected to clarify which populations are in fact subject to the shelter-in-place order.
ATLANTA – Four state senators including
the chairwoman of the Georgia Democratic Party have tested positive for
coronavirus as the untreatable respiratory disease continues to spread across
Georgia with hundreds of confirmed cases and more than two dozen deaths.
First to publicly announce his COVID-19 diagnosis was Sen. Brandon Beach, R-Alpharetta, whose test results came back positive days after attending a special session of the General Assembly last Monday. His announcement was followed by Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, R-Marietta, who alerted constituents late Friday night that she also had contracted the virus.
Then, Sen. Nikema Williams, D-Atlanta, said on Facebook Sunday night that she tested positive after developing a fever last Monday and being tested Thursday afternoon on the top floor of the parking deck of her doctor’s office. Williams, who chairs the Democratic Party of Georgia, called her diagnosis a reminder that anyone can contract the virus, not just those most vulnerable like people over 60-years old or with chronic health issues.
“YOU can get this too,” Williams said.
“Many of you reading this already have the coronavirus and are showing no
symptoms.”
Sen. Bruce Thompson, R-White, also
received confirmation Sunday that he had contracted coronavirus. Thompson was
admitted to the hospital last Monday with respiratory issues and released over
the weekend once his condition improved.
“While I am feeling much better, I plan
to remain at home in self-quarantine for the immediate future,” Thompson said
on Facebook.
Georgia lawmakers hit pause on the 2020 legislative session earlier this month as concerns deepened over the spreading virus. They reconvened briefly last Monday to approve temporary emergency powers for Gov. Brian Kemp.
Last week, Senate leadership including
Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan and the chamber’s majority caucus urged the chamber’s 56
members to self-quarantine. Duncan has not been tested and has not experienced
any of the typical symptoms associated with coronavirus such as high fever and
a dry cough, an aide said.
House Speaker David Ralston has also not
been tested and is not showing symptoms, according to his office. His office
was not aware Monday of any Georgia representatives having tested positive for
the virus.
Last week, Kemp’s office said the
governor does not plan to be tested and was isolated from members of the House
and Senate while at the state Capitol building during last Monday’s special
session as symptoms cropped up for some lawmakers.
The novel strain of coronavirus has
sickened 772 people and led to 25 deaths in Georgia as of noon Monday. Many
businesses across the state have ground to a halt as workers isolate themselves
to help curb the virus’ spread, while several city and county governments have
imposed restrictions on gatherings and restaurants.
ATLANTA – When the legislative session
resumes, Georgia lawmakers will take up a measure originally aimed at bringing
better public transit options to people in rural parts of Georgia, especially
for seniors who already struggle to shop and attend medical appointments.
They view the move as a disappointing end
to legislation that promised more money and tighter management for rural
transit options geared toward helping older Georgians.
Lawmakers behind the changes, meanwhile,
say counties and cities can already tap into state and federal funds to expand
their local transit systems – an option they say makes unnecessary a key
proposal in the bill to create a new oversight agency for rural transit.
The bill, sponsored by Rep. Kevin Tanner,
initially would have consolidated transit functions carried out by three
different state agencies into a new department tasked with overseeing transit
projects via regional managers, who would be spread out across Georgia into multi-county
“mobility zones.”
Crucially, Tanner’s original bill also included ways to raise new state funds for buses and transit workers, either by letting counties levy new sales taxes dedicated to transit services or by charging a flat fee on ride-hailing trips run by Uber and Lyft.
Tanner, R-Dawsonville, previously said
the measure would give Georgia transit officials more tools to boost transit
options for seniors and others in isolated rural areas.
Rep. Kevin Tanner (R-Dawsonville).
Georgia has around 200,000 residents age 70 and older who no longer drive and have a tough time reaching grocery stores, doctor’s offices and other important places on their own, according to a Georgia Health Policy Center report from 2018. Officials expect the population of Georgians 60 years and older to double by 2040.
There are no public transit systems operating in 36 of the state’s 159 counties, according to the Georgia Department of Transportation. That equates to about 1 million Georgians who do not have a local public transit system, GDOT reported in 2017.
While most of the 80 transit systems
operating in rural areas allow riders to cross county lines on an as-needed
basis, some do not. That gap creates a problem for seniors who need to reach
hospitals or other essential services, said Vicki Johnson, chairwoman of the
Georgia Council on Aging.
Senior advocates like Johnson were
counting on Tanner’s bill to help increase more cross-county transit options
and broader regional public transit in underserved areas.
“We saw it as being very advantageous to
coordinate with a single administrative unit in designing programs that would
provide expanded transit for seniors,” Johnson said. “We thought this regional
approach would be much better suited to their needs, especially in rural
Georgia.”
Tanner’s bill had backing from several
top lawmakers including House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, and House
Appropriations Committee Chairman Terry England, R-Auburn, who was a
co-sponsor. The bill cleared the state House last year but hit a roadblock in
the Georgia Senate, where lawmakers earlier this month stripped it down to the
studs.
Now, the bill deals only with
administrative rules for the Atlanta-region Transit Link Authority (the ATL)
and an extension on tying the state’s motor fuels tax rate to the consumer price
index.
Instead of creating a new department, the
three state agencies tasked with public transit – GDOT, the Department of Human
Services, and the Department of Community Health – are considering a pilot
program for a regional commission to administer all rural, senior and
non-emergency medical transportation services.
“The pilot will offer fully coordinated
rural transit and human services transportation at the regional level and
provide improved accessibility and ease of use for riders,” said Carol Comer,
director of GDOT’s Intermodal Division.
Sen. Steve Gooch, who spearheaded the
bill’s gutting, said rural counties can already tap into federal grants divvied
out by the state that help pay for public buses and on-demand shuttles. But
some local governments choose not to pursue those funds, he said.
That lack of interest made the proposals
in Tanner’s bill a tough pill to swallow for state agencies wary of
consolidating, Gooch said.
“There has been very little if any demand
for a statewide regional area for public transit in rural areas,” said Gooch,
R-Dahlonega.
Sen. Steve Gooch (R-Dahlonega).
Comer said counties do have access to
several different federal grants for rural transit, which require local
matching funds. The state Department of Community Health also works with 78
counties to provide transit services for seniors and persons with disabilities,
she said.
GDOT is wrapping up a 30-year outlook plan set for release next month that will recommend expanding transit services for seniors and others in rural areas, Comer said. But it will take more money to do that, she said.
“It is important to note that absent
additional funding it will be more difficult to incentivize counties to
participate, making transit expansions and enhancements challenging to
implement,” Comer said.
Gooch pointed to a separate measure,
House Bill 105, that aims to drum up new funds for public transit via a 50-cent
fee on ride-hailing trips. It is estimated to raise between $24 million and $45
million in its first year if passed.
That bill still needs final Senate
approval and will have to be amended first to make it clear transit services
and not just road construction would qualify for the funds. Gooch said transit
officials would track which counties are taking advantage of the new fee-based
funds collected from Uber and Lyft.
“I think this is a good first step in
setting up some more funding for transit,” Gooch said. “Once the funding’s in
place, then we’ll see what kind of demand there might be for some regional
coordination.”
The General Assembly hit a pause earlier this month amid the coronavirus outbreak in Georgia, where hundreds of COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in recent days. Lawmakers will return to finish the 2020 session as soon as Ralston and Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan decide to summon them back.
