Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms issued a state of emergency Sunday as the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Georgia ticked to 99.  

The declaration bans gatherings of more than 250 people and gives Bottoms the authority to close roads, impose curfews and shut down businesses. 

Shortly after the mayor's announcement, the CDC updated its recommendations to limit gatherings to 50 people. The mayor later said she might revise her order. 

"It's going to be a disruption of life as we know it, but a temporary one," Bottoms told WSB-TV Channel 2 Action News via remote connection from City Hall.

The mayor was broadcasting from her office in a show of “social distancing,” something public health officials are urging Americans to do to slow the spread of coronavirus, which causes COVID-19.  

Earlier in the day, Bottoms took to Twitter to express her frustration with Atlantans seen over the weekend crowding into bars and restaurants.

“THIS IS SERIOUS,” she wrote. “If people don’t start exercising social distancing, thousands may die and the entire country will be on lockdown.”

Despite the pending surge in cases, Georgia is reporting a recovered coronavirus patient.

On Sunday, the Georgia Emergency Management Agency released Joey Camp from isolation at Hard Labor Creek State Park in Morgan County.

Camp was unable to isolate at home away from family members.

“I’ve been three or four days without any real, major symptoms,” Camp told GPB's Rahul Bali.

The Georgia Department of Public Health updates its tally of confirmed coronavirus cases each day at noon. 

Tags: covid-19  Coronavirus  Keisha Lance-Bottoms  Atlanta  Georgia  Macon  Savannah