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.
Each tele-conference is also available to watch at https://livestream.com/accounts/25637515/events/7960637.
Besides the new business and playground closings, the April 1 resolution would also continue guidelines of the March 23 resolution that prohibits voluntary social gatherings at which 10 or more people congregate, including, but not limited to, private social functions, religious worship meetings or services, and attendance at theaters, gyms or fitness centers, flea markets or yard sales, or funeral visitations or services, among other activities.
Restaurants, bars, and similar food or drink establishments are ordered to offer only drive-through, pick-up, carry out, or delivery service for food and drink. Restaurants or bars licensed to sell beer and wine for consumption by the drink on the premises will be allowed to sell unopened, sealed containers of beer or wine (not distilled spirits) for take-out consumption off-premises during the time the resolution is in effect.
Cafeterias in licensed medical facilities, nursing homes, and similar facilities are exempt from the resolution, which nevertheless asks these facilities to "exercise extreme caution in limiting numbers of persons therein in accordance with the President's guidelines."
During Tuesday's tele-conference, Craig shared the latest statistics on COVID-19 as of noon Tuesday, saying that 108 deaths in Georgia and 3,440 deaths in the U.S. have been reported.
Craig urged local residents to adhere to the CDC guidelines about social distancing and hand washing, saying it was critical to slow down the spread of the disease and get it under control faster.