Omicron surge: Georgia will send National Guard to assist hospitals, test sites as cases increase
ATLANTA - Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said he does not plan to implement measures that threaten businesses and trusts citizens to protect themselves amid an increase in COVID-19 cases.
Kemp said he will not implement policies that "divide the vaccinated from the unvaccinated or the masked from the unmasked."
GEORGIA REACHES NEW SINGLE-DAY RECORD HIGH FOR NEW COVID CASES
Kemp said he is authorizing the deployment of about 200 National Guard troops to testing sites and hospitals.
Kemp plans to re-establish a state testing near the airport and said the state is expanding staff at district test sites.
Kemp urged Georgians to be patient when trying to find a test.
"I just want to reassure my fellow Georgians, we've gotten through this before, we absolutely will do it again," Kemp said.
The Georgia Department of Public Health said individuals seeking COVID testing should not go to hospital emergency departments unless they are experiencing severe COVID-19 symptoms requiring urgent medical attention.
The DPH provided new guidance for isolation to reflect the advice from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
People who have tested positive with symptoms can discontinue isolation at least 5 days since symptoms first appeared and at least 24 hours since the last fever without the use of fever-reducing medications.
People who tested positive without symptoms can discontinue isolation at least 5 days since a positive test if the person remains asymptomatic.
Kemp said he is authorizing the deployment of about 200 National Guard troops to testing sites and hospitals.
GRADY HOSPITAL UPDATES VISITATION POLICY AMID COVID OMICRON CASE SURGE
More than 13,000 new PCR and antigen cases were reported on Tuesday, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health. That is just over 250 shy of the record of 13,296 that was set on Jan. 8. Several experts have said they believe that number could be broken with the omicron variant behind this latest surge.
The City of Atlanta instituted precautions as case totals approached a seven-day average of 600 new cases per day. On Tuesday, the city canceled the Peach Drop and announced it was in the "red zone" of it's COVID-19 protocol.
"In consultation with public health officials, we have made the very difficult decision to cancel the Peach Drop," said Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. "As positive COVID-19 cases rise, I encourage everyone to be safe, get vaccinated and follow CDC guidelines."
According to the CDC, Fulton and DeKalb counties are areas of high transmission of COVID-19. In Fulton County, public health officials reported the seven-day average of COVID-19 cases surged to 1,430 on Tuesday from the previous seven-day average of 407.