Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp will sign a statewide shelter-in-place order later this week that will run until April 13 to help stop the spread of the coronavirus.
Kemp also decided to close down all K-12 schools for the rest of the school year.
The announcements came at a press conference Wednesday afternoon in Atlanta. Kemp said he will announce details on the order on Thursday and expects to sign the order Friday.
Kemp was under pressure from medical professionals and other health officials across the state to order a shelter-in-place. Kemp instead decided to leave certain closures up to local officials and governments while the virus spread throughout the state until Wednesday.
As of Wednesday, 139 people in Georgia have died due to the coronavirus and over 4,600 people have tested positive.
Contact Patrick Filbin at pfilbin@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6476. Follow him on Twitter @PatrickFilbin.