Atlanta, March 16, 2020 – There are now 121 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Georgia as of noon Monday. The Georgia Department of Public Health is also reporting one death in the state.
Most of the confirmed cases are centralized in the metro Atlanta area, including 27 cases in Fulton County, 22 cases in Cobb County and 10 cases in DeKalb County. The disease is also reaching rural parts of the state, including southwest Georgia, where officials at Phoebe Putney Hospital in Albany say there are eight confirmed cases.
A wide range of Georgians are affected: 46% of those confirmed to have COVID-19 are under the age of 60 and divided equally among men and women.
A special session of the General Assembly was called Monday morning at the state Capitol to ratify a public health emergency declaration by Gov. Brian Kemp. Last week, the state allocated $100 million dollars in emergency funding to address the spread of the virus, and the state lab has increased its capacity of testing to 100 samples a week.
Monday, the House voted 142-1 in favor of the resolution, while the Senate voted unanimously in agreement with Kemp.
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Bottoms also issued a state of emergency Sunday banning all gatherings of more than 250 people and gives the authority to close roads, impose curfews and shut down businesses.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is advising against gatherings of 50 people or more for the next eight weeks.
The White House Monday afternoon said gatherings should be limited to a maximum of 10 people.
The Georgia Department of Public Health has the complete breakdown of COVID-19 cases county by county at https://dph.georgia.gov/covid-19-daily-status-report
