Gov. Brian Kemp continued to lift restrictions Tuesday despite scrutiny over his previous order that pivoted the state to phase one of reopening the economy.
Critics said Kemp’s executive order issued April 20 that opened certain businesses was premature and put vulnerable communities at risk. On Tuesday, he expanded the occupancy limit for child care facilities and dining rooms and offered more flexibility to gyms.
“Today, I have issued a new executive order to extend several provisions, clarify existing guidelines for certain businesses, and provide guidance to other operators in our state,” Kemp said during a news conference Tuesday. “This order is issued as COVID-19 positive hospitalizations, ventilator use, and the percentage of positive cases continue to drop.”
On Monday, Kemp touted record-breaking lows in ventilator use and coronavirus hospitalizations.
“Every day, Georgians are recovering from the virus, freeing up hospital space as we continue to safely reopen our state and ramp up testing and contact tracing,” Kemp said in a statement Monday.
As of Monday, 881 ventilators were in use in hospitals across the state, the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency (GEMA) reported. On May 1, 989 ventilators were in use, Kemp said.
Monday was the first day GEMA made information on ventilators part of its public report.
Ventilators and the availability of other medical supplies, such as personal protective equipment, is one of the health care system benchmarks states are required to meet before entering phase one, according to White House criteria for reopening.
The state also gets a checkmark for its hospitals’ ability to handle more critical care patients, which is one of the data points Kemp said led him to his decision to reopen.
“According to the Department of Public Health, reports of emergency room visits for flu-like illnesses are declining, documented COVID-19 cases have flattened and appear to be declining, and we have seen declining emergency room visits in general,” Kemp said April 20.
As of Monday, 1,001 – or 34 percent – of critical care hospital beds were available, and 1,134 COVID-19 positive patients were hospitalized statewide, according to GEMA. On April 20, critical care beds were on the same track, at 69 percent capacity.
There are 108 active testing sites across the state, Kemp said Tuesday. Contract tracing also has increased, he said. Both of the actions follow the White House’s directives.
Criticism of Kemp’s decision was rested on White House “gating criteria” for opening, in particular a downward trend in symptoms and positive cases over a period of 14 days.
Symptomatic data was not available Tuesday on the Department of Public Health’s website.
DPH Commissioner Dr. Kathleen Toomey said April 20, looking at rolling averages, cases had reached a “plateau,” were at a “decline” and she foresaw a downtrend ahead.
The state’s data reporting lags between the date the test was administrated, when symptoms appeared and when the case is reported.
Still, current data shows the seven-day moving average for April 13 was 714 new cases. April 20’s seven-day moving average was 757 news cases, and April 27, the last day that can be accounted for with data lags, had a seven-day moving average of 706 new cases.
