In the days after a pastor unknowingly spread COVID-19 at two funerals in Albany early this year, Gov. Brian Kemp looked to curb further spread of the virus. He issued a stay-at-home order, ordered the closure of some businesses and implored Georgians to avoid large funerals.
The outbreak spurred Georgia health officials to ban events of more than 50 people unless attendees practiced social distancing. But less than a month after urging Georgians to follow his advice, Kemp started attending funerals, memorial services and public viewings in ways that were at odds with his administration’s own guidelines, a Georgia Health News investigation found.
Unfounded conspiracy theories about the presidential election in Georgia hound Republican Gov. Brian Kemp even as he works to get the word out about Georgia’s new COVID-19 vaccination plan.
Following a COVID-19 update Tuesday inside the Capitol, Kemp was approached by a group of demonstrators with two large bags they said contained more than 2,000 letters urging Kemp to call a special session of the state Legislature to investigate claimed election irregularities and potentially change the results of Georgia’s election won by President-elect Joe Biden.
Gov. Brian Kemp on Tuesday implored a group of Trump supporters not to grow complacent ahead of the Nov. 3 election, saying, "If we grow tired and weary, we can lose.”
The Georgia Supreme Court is deciding whether to uphold a 2018 state law that would prevent an election for a local district attorney this year. The law allows Gov. Brian Kemp, a Republican, to fill vacant seats if the incumbent retires before the election, and the appointee wouldn't have to face voters until 2022.
Gov. Brian Kemp has extended social distancing and sanitization restrictions for businesses, gatherings and long-term elderly care facilities in Georgia amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
The guidelines – ordered last Tuesday by Gov. Brian Kemp and outlined by the state Department of Public Health – represent the first official guidance from the state on how and when the public should engage with some of the state’s most vulnerable residents.
Gov. Brian Kemp authorized in-person visitation “subject to specific criteria and restrictions outlined by the Department of Public Health,” according to a press release. The governor’s order also clarifies that community and state ombudsmen are authorized to perform inspections at these facilities.
Gov. Brian Kemp suggests he will wait out his existing executive order and address Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms' refusal to lift her mask-wearing requirement when he signs a new one on Aug. 15.
Barely a week after Georgia reopens its public schools, a district north of Atlanta reports nearly 60 positive tests among students, teachers and staff, and closes one hard-hit high school.
"Mayor Bottoms does not have the legal authority to modify, change or ignore Governor Kemp's executive orders," Kemp argues in the lawsuit intended to stop masks from being required in Atlanta.
In the political battle over mask mandates in Georgia, one Republican accuses the mayors of cities requiring them of "raw power and pandemic politics." A Democratic lawmaker calls the governor's move to preempt the local ordinances "a total abdication of a good government mentality."
Atlanta is the latest big city to require face coverings when people are in public. Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms is moving forward with the plan despite resistance from Georgia's governor.
