Five groups of elected officials from Whitfield County, Dalton, Cohutta, Tunnel Hill, and Varnell will meet Wednesday to consider a resolution that would expand the list of local businesses closed to the public through April 30 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a news release from Mitch Talley, Whitfield County director of communications.
The Whitfield County meeting will be livestreamed at noon Wednesday, April 1, at this link: https://livestream.com/accounts/25637515/events/7960637
If approved, the new resolution, would close to the public all barber shops, hair salons, day spas, tanning salons, massage parlors and tattoo and body art establishments. Also closed would be children’s playgrounds, though parks would remain open for activities such as walking and bike riding. The governing bodies also continue to encourage businesses to send home any employees who are showing symptoms of COVID-19 and allow them to work from home if at all possible.
The announcement about the new resolution came during the second live public conference call hosted Tuesday, March 31, at 5 p.m. by Whitfield County Commission Chairman Lynn Laughter, who was joined by Emergency Management Agency Director Claude Craig and two local physicians, Dr. Pablo Perez of St. Joseph’s Clinic (speaking in Spanish) and Dr. Brad Delay of Dalton Family Practice.
Laughter says the conference calls will continue to be held each Tuesday and Thursday at 5 p.m., throughout the crisis to share information about COVID-19 and the local response. She encourages residents to watch the tele-conferences live at the previously mentioned link and submit questions, either by calling a special number announced during the sessions or taking part through a chat.