Last updated March 14 on 12:40 pm
There are 66 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Georgia, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health. Atlanta public schools are closing for two weeks in response to the outbreak starting on Monday (March 16).
Governor Brian Kemp declared a public health state emergency for Georgia at a press conference on Saturday (March 14). “Out of an abundance of caution, I have worked with the Georgia General Assembly to appropriate $100 million in emergency funding to address the spread of coronavirus in Georgia,” Kemp said.
They are also increasing the capacity to test coronavirus samples, he said. Right now Georgia can test 100 specimens per day, but they we will double it to 200 per day by the end of the week with addition of new equipment and staffing, Kemp said.
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Georgia’s first two cases of COVID-19 were residents of Fulton County who lived in the same household and one had just returned from Italy, according to a statement from the department on March 2. Both of them had mild symptoms and were isolated at home with other relatives. Since then, the state has had dozens more confirmed and presumptive positive cases (some of them had travel history and some of them had infections from unknown sources).
On Thursday (March 12) a 67-year-old man with underlying medical conditions died from the coronavirus, marking Georgia’s first death, according to the Associated Press. The man was hospitalized at WellStar Kennestone, a hospital serving Cobb county.
In a corner of a state park, Georgia has set up mobile housing units for people with COVID-19 who can’t stay home but don’t need to be hospitalized, according to the AP. Also, 124 passengers who were flown in from the Grand Princess in California are in a two-week quarantine at Dobbins Air Reserve Base in Cobb County, Georgia.
A quarantine space with 20 temporary housing units for those who aren’t able to self-quarantine at home is under construction on the Georgia Public Safety Training Center campus in Monroe County, according to a statement from the Georgia Department of Public Health on March 13.
Cases by county:
- Cobb: 15
- Fulton: 13
- Dekalb: 8
- Bartow: 7
- Cherokee: 5
- Fayette: 4
- Floyd: 3
- Coweta:2
- Gordon:2
- Gwinnett:2
- Lee:1
- Henry:1
- Lowndes:1
- Polk:1
- Charlton:1
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