ATLANTA (AP) – For the first time since April, some families will be able to visit relatives in nursing homes and other long-term care facilities in Georgia under new rules for the coronavirus approved by the governor.
Gov. Brian Kemp signed an executive order Tuesday that lifts a ban on visitors implemented on April 8, but not for all long-term care facilities. In counties where the infection rate remains high, visitors will still only be permitted under extremely limited circumstances.
In another population group that’s had a lot of focus on viral spread recently, the University of Georgia announced Wednesday that the pace of new infections eased last week, with the 39,000-student university reporting 421 new cases in the week that ended Sunday.
The pandemic has hit facilities that house seniors particularly hard. Long-term care facilities account for a sliver of the U.S. population but as of Sept. 10 had experienced more than 40% of all deaths from COVID-19, according to The COVID Tracking Project. That’s more than 77,000 deaths.
In Georgia as of Tuesday, 13,859 residents of long-term care homes with 25 beds or more have tested positive for the disease and 2,407 have died, according to the state Department of Community Health. That’s about 38% of the state’s total deaths from the disease.