ATLANTA (AP) – Georgia’s governor says he’s still deciding what comes next after the state’s shelter-in-place order expires after Thursday, even as he’s loosened it to allow a number of businesses to reopen.
Gov. Brian Kemp, speaking Monday to reporters, said he hasn’t decided how he’ll replace the order. His public health chief said Georgia had moved forward without meeting all the criteria laid out by President Donald Trump’s administration, although a spokeswoman for the Republican Kemp later said Georgia had met the minimum necessary criteria. Kemp papered over the repeated criticism leveled at him by the president last week, with Kemp saying of Trump, “I appreciate his leadership” and suggesting reporters had overplayed the spat.
Georgia reported more than 24,000 cases of COVID-19 and 994 deaths late Monday.
Kemp last week issued a new executive order instructing people with medical conditions and residents of nursing homes and other care facilities to stay in place through at least May 13. But the governor said he was still examining data and consulting with Public Health Commissioner Kathleen Toomey about what rules should apply to others.
“We’re going to be making some decisions, most likely in the next couple of days of what the next week, two weeks or month looks like, based on on that data,” Kemp said. “I just haven’t made those decisions yet.”