Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has scaled back Atlanta’s COVID-19 reopening back to phase 1 after cases in Georgia continue to surge at alarming rates. Mayor Bottoms also announced this past week that she had tested positive for the virus.
According to phase 1, Atlanta residents must wear face masks, restaurants must close dining rooms, and non-essential businesses should close. Residents should also only leave their homes for essential trips.
The scale-back comes after Georgia set a record number of new cases this past week. Nearly 5,000 new cases were reported on Friday.
“Based upon the surge of COVID-19 cases and other data trends, pursuant to the recommendations of our Reopening Advisory Committee, Atlanta will return to Phase I of our reopening plan,” Bottoms said Friday in a statement. “Georgia reopened in a reckless manner and the people of our city and state are suffering the consequences.”
However, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp did not support Mayor Bottoms’ implementation of phase 1 protocol. Her rollback to phase 1 goes against Kemp’s state mandate where he encouraged people to wear masks but did not mandate it.
According to the Governor’s office, Mayor Bottoms’ mandate is not legally enforceable and the governor’s mandate supersedes mayor Bottoms mandate.
