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Government responses to and political effects of the coronavirus pandemic, 2020 (Georgia)

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Responses by state

Ballotpedia’s coverage of COVID-19 includes how federal, state, and local governments are responding, and how those responses are influencing election rules and operations, political campaigns, the economy, schools, and more.

This article contains coverage of eight kinds of state government responses to the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. The article tracks developments in these areas that took place between the start of the pandemic in March 2020 through Dec. 4, 2020. The government responses covered here include:

Additionally, the article includes:

To view current coverage areas, including mask requirements, school responses, travel restrictions, and much more, click a state in the map below.

Documenting_STATE%27s_path_to_recovery_from_the_coronavirus_(COVID-19)_pandemic,_2020-2021


Changes to election dates and procedures, March 16 through November 19

See also: Changes to election dates, procedures, and administration in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020

General election changes

Georgia modified its absentee/mail-in voting and candidate filing procedures for the November 3, 2020, general election as follows:

  • Candidate filing procedures: The petitioning deadline for minor-party and unaffiliated candidates was extended to August 14, 2020. The petition signature requirement for independent and minor-party candidates was reduced to 70 percent of their original numbers.

For a full timeline about election modifications made in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, click here.

Primary election changes

Georgia modified its primary election process as follows:

  • Election postponements: The statewide and presidential preference primary elections were postponed to June 9, 2020.
  • Voting procedures: Absentee ballot application forms to all active voters in the primary election.
  • Political party events: The Republican Party of Georgia canceled its state convention, originally scheduled to take place on May 29-30, 2020.

For a full timeline about election modifications made in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, click here.

Click the gray bar below for more detailed information.


Statewide stay-at-home order, March 23 through December 4

See also: States with lockdown and stay-at-home orders in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020

On April 2, Gov. Brian Kemp (R) issued an executive order that directed individuals in Georgia to stay home except for essential activities and closed nonessential businesses in the state.[11] The stay-at-home order took effect April 3 and lasted until April 13.

On April 8, Kemp extended the stay-at-home order through April 30.[12]

The executive order included a supplemental handout that listed essential businesses in the state. That handout is embedded below.

Executive orders, March 30 through June 29

See also: Executive orders issued by governors and state agencies in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020


Court closures, March 17 through November 4

See also: State court closures in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020
  • October 10, 2020: Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Harold Melton issued an order extending the statewide judicial emergency and allowing jury trials to resume immediately. The judicial emergency was set to expire on November 9.[13]
  • October 5, 2020: Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Harold Melton announced that he would end the suspension of jury trials on October 10.[14]
  • September 10, 2020: Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Harold Melton issued an order extending the state's judicial emergency, which had been set to expire on September 10, through October 10. The order allows the Chief Judge of each superior court to resume grand jury trials as local conditions allow in consultation with the District Attorney. The order also directs counties to develop guidelines for the resumption of jury trials, which could begin in October at the discretion of superior and state courts.[15]
  • August 11, 2020: Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Harold Melton issued an order extending the state's judicial emergency, which had been set to expire on August 11, through September 10. Jury trials and most grand jury proceedings remain prohibited.[16]
  • July 12, 2020: Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Harold Melton issued an order extending the state's judicial emergency, which had been set to expire on July 12, through August 11. Jury trials and most grand jury proceedings remain prohibited.[17]
  • June 12, 2020: Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Harold Melton issued an order which extended the state’s judicial emergency through July 12. Under the order, the court laid out a plan to reimpose deadlines, time schedules, and filing requirements imposed on litigants by statute, rules and regulations beginning July 14. The order also encourages courts to continue using and increasing the use of technology to conduct remote proceedings. The order authorizes courts to use their discretion to hold in-person proceedings, except petit and grand jury proceedings, if they comply with public health guidance. Jury trials and grand jury proceedings are still prohibited.[18]
  • May 12, 2020: The Georgia Supreme Court extended restrictions on in-person proceedings and suspension of jury trials through June 12.[19]
  • May 4, 2020: The Georgia Supreme Court extended restrictions on in-person proceedings and suspension jury trials through June 12. Under the order, courts were encouraged to develop plans for resuming nonessential court operations that could be conducted through video or phone conferencing or by maintaining social distancing measures. The order also urged judges to use technology for conducting remote proceedings as an alternative to in-person. In addition, the order announced the creation of a task force by Chief Justice Harold Melton to assist courts with remote proceedings and to develop reopening plans so that in-court proceedings can resume safely.[20]
  • April 20, 2020: The Georgia Supreme Court held oral arguments via video conferencing. It was the first time in the court’s 175 year history that arguments were held virtually.[21]
  • March 14, 2020: Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Harold Melton ordered all courts in the state to suspend non-essential court functions for 30 days.[22]

Legislative session changes, March 20 through October 1

See also: Changes to state legislative session dates in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020

The Georgia State Legislature suspended its session, effective March 14, 2020, through June 15, 2020. The legislature adjourned on June 26, 2020.[23][24]

Proposed and enacted legislation, March 25 through August 19

See also: State laws in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020

See below for a complete list of bills related to the coronavirus pandemic in Georgia. To learn more about a particular bill, click its title. This information is provided by BillTrack50 and LegiScan.

Rent, mortgage, eviction, and foreclosure policies, April 9 through November 24

See also: Changes to rent, mortgage, eviction, and foreclosure policies in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020


  • As of April 6, 2020, Georgia had not implemented any policies related to evictions or foreclosures in response to the coronavirus.[25]

Local

  • March 17, 2020: Atlanta Mayor Keisha Bottoms temporarily suspended evictions and filings for 60 days.[26]


Prison inmate release responses, March 30 through July 1

See also: State and local governments that released prison inmates in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020
  • Between March 30 and July 1, Georgia did not make an announcement concerning the release of incarcerated individuals due to coronavirus on a state level. A few counties made the decision to release incarcerated individuals on the local level.[27]


Debate in Georgia over responses to the coronavirus

See also: Debate in Georgia over responses to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 2020

Ballotpedia is covering the debate over continuing restrictions and closures in Georgia in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Click on the links below to read more about these debates.

Status of industries, May 15 through July 31

Between May 15 and July 31, we conducted detailed tracking of industries and activities in each state daily.

  • "Yes" means an activity was allowed or an industry was permitted to open. "No" means an activity was not allowed or an industry was not permitted to reopen.
  • Some rules were applied regionally rather than statewide. Each cell shows the loosest restriction in place at the time, or the broadest level of an activity permitted in the state, even if that activity was only permitted regionally. Where applicable, we indicated that an activity was only permitted regionally, and provided details in a cell note. For example, if gyms were permitted to open in half of a state, the spreadsheet would say "Yes (regionally)," and differences between the regions would be explained in a note.
  • A lack of detail in a note or parentheses does not necessarily mean that an activity or industry was "back to normal." We did our best to capture caveats, exceptions, and modifications to activities. We acknowledge, though, that states put forth a large number of requirements for many industries and activities.

Initial reopening plan from March and April 2020 closures

Georgia released an initial reopening plan from March and April 2020 closures on April 23, 2020. An analysis of this plan appeared in our Documenting America's Path to Recovery newsletter on May 4. The sections below include an analysis of the plan, the details of the plan, and reactions from officials to the plan.

Summary from Documenting America's Path to Recovery

See also: Documenting America's Path to Recovery: May 4, 2020

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) released an executive order, "Reviving a Healthy Georgia," April 23 allowing some businesses to open between April 24 and 27 if they follow certain general and industry-specific requirements.

Gyms, bowling alleys, body art studios, and businesses run by barbers, cosmetologists, estheticians, and massage therapists could open April 24. Restaurants and movie theaters could open April 27.

In a press release announcing the reopening guidelines, Kemp said the state was on track to meet criteria laid out in the White House "Opening Up America Again" plan to initiate the first phase of reopening:

“ According to the Department of Public Health, reports of emergency room visits for flu-like illnesses are declining, documented COVID-19 cases have flattened and appear to be declining, and we have seen declining emergency room visits in general. By expanding our hospital bed capacity ... we have the ability to treat patients without crisis care in hospital settings. …

Now, a key component of the gating criteria is testing. ... We partnered with the University System of Georgia, partnered with the private sector to offer drive-thru services, and recently empowered public health departments across Georgia to offer testing for all symptomatic individuals. Today we’re taking this effort to the next level by announcing an even broader partnership with the state’s dedicated health sciences university and its health system to double down on our testing capacity and meet the requirements necessary to move forward with the president’s plan.[5]

”

The governor's office developed the order's provisions in consultation with the Georgia Coronavirus Task Force and health and emergency preparedness officials.

Kemp said the executive order laying out reopening allowances and requirements preempts local action, meaning "local action cannot be taken that is more or less restrictive."

Context

  • Georgia's statewide shelter-at-home order was in effect from April 3 to April 30.
  • As of April 24, the state had 22,147 confirmed cases and 892 coronavirus-related deaths. As of 3:30pm EDT May 4, there were 29,343 confirmed cases and 1,217 deaths. As of July 2019, Georgia had 10.6 million residents.
  • Georgia is a Republican trifecta, with a Republican governor and Republican majorities in both chambers of the state legislature.

Plan details

The executive order contains requirements for individuals and for businesses.

Social distancing requirements:
Social distancing requirements for individuals include:

  • Maintaining six feet of distance from others who are not in their household
  • Avoiding gatherings of more than 10 people in a space where six feet of distance between people is not possible
  • Practicing sanitation in accordance with Centers for Disease Control guidelines

The order also encourages people to wear face masks while outside their homes.

Shelter-in-place requirements:
Georgia residents and visitors who meet criteria for being at high risk for severe illness must shelter in place, with the exception of certain activities.

Those criteria include being 65 years of age or older, living in a long-term care facility, and having certain medical conditions.

Businesses:
The order contains 21 guidelines all businesses not deemed critical infrastructure must follow upon reopening and additional industry-specific guidelines. Guidelines for all non-critical businesses include:

  • Screening employees for illness
  • Enhancing sanitation
  • Implementing telework where possible
  • Enforcing social distancing
  • Keeping open cash registers six feet apart

Restaurants & dining services
Restaurants may allow in no more than 10 patrons per 500 square feet.

The order contains 39 additional requirements for restaurants, which supersede any that conflict with the 21 requirements for all non-critical businesses. Restaurant requirements include:

  • "Train all employees on the importance and expectation of increased frequency of handwashing, the use of hand sanitizers with at least 60% alcohol, and provide clear instruction to avoid touching hands to face"
  • "Discontinue use of salad bars and buffets"
  • "Between diners, clean and sanitize table condiments, digital ordering devices, check presenters, self-service areas, tabletops and commonly touched areas, and discarding single-use items"
  • "Update floor plans for common dining areas, redesigning seating arrangements to ensure at least six (6) feet of separation from seating to seating. Utilize physical barriers on booth seating when available"

Gyms and fitness centers
The order contains 16 requirements for gyms and fitness centers, as practicable, including:

  • "Providing sanitation wipes at or near each piece of equipment and requiring users to wipe down the equipment before and after use"
  • "Requiring workers to patrol patron areas to enforce the equipment wipe-down policy and conduct additional cleanings during times when equipment is not being used"
  • "Limiting use of cardio machines to every other machine to maintain acceptable Social Distancing between users"

Body art studios
There are 13 requirements for body art studios, as practicable, including:

  • "Allowing only one patron per service provider in the business at any one time"
  • "Allowing one parent to be within a facility if a minor child is receiving a haircut"
  • "Requiring patrons to wait in their car until service provider is ready"
  • "Staggering use of every-other workstation or spacing workstations more than ten (10) feet apart, whichever option is practicable given the facility's configuration"

Bowling alleys
The 11 requirements for bowling alleys include:

  • "Removing items from all self-service bowling ball, bowling shoe, and other bowling accessory stations and have workers provide such items to patrons directly"
  • "Allowing groups of six (6) patrons or less per lane"
  • "Staggering use of lanes so that only every other lane or every third lane is in use to maintain proper Social Distancing between groups of patrons. Each party of patrons must be seated at least six (6) feet apart"

Movie theaters
The following are among eight requirements for movie theaters:

  • "Each party of patrons must be seated at least six (6) feet apart. No party seated together may number more than six (6) individuals"
  • "At least one usher must be used in each theater room before and at some point, during each showing to ensure that proper Social Distancing protocol is enforced"
  • "Seats, armrests, handrails, doors, doorknobs, and door handles in each theater must be thoroughly sanitized before and after each showing"

Retail businesses
* The order states that retail businesses shall follow seven guidelines, including limiting patrons to 50% fire capacity occupancy or eight patrons per 1,000 square feet.

  • It lays out 13 additional guidelines for grocery stores to follow to the extent practicable.

The order states that bars, swimming pools, amusement parts, and performance venues must remain closed.

Reactions

  • Georgia Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Kathleen Toomey said in an interview, "We’re still seeing cases, and we’ve expected that. … We want to keep flattening the curve. That doesn’t require a mandate. It requires individuals to make a commitment, continuing these efforts to help themselves and the community."
    • At a press conference, Toomey said, "We didn't meet the [White House's] full gating criteria, but we met several of them and we were approaching a plateauing, which made us feel that it would be safe to move forward because we had three things in place. We had adequate hospitalization, hospital capacity. … We have adequate testing capacity. … And we are ramping up our contact tracing capacity."
  • In an op-ed for The Atlantic, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms wrote, "Reopening the state and relaxing social-distancing measures now is irresponsible and could even be deadly. Our hospitals may not be stretched to capacity, but that does not mean we should work to fill the vacant beds. I strongly believe that our health-care system is not overwhelmed because we have been socially distancing. And while staying at home may be inconvenient for many people, there is nothing essential about going to a bowling alley during a pandemic. We need to continue to do whatever it takes to keep the number of cases from rising. Although Governor Kemp and I have had a good working relationship, mayors across Georgia, including myself, were denied the opportunity to provide input on his decision to ease social-distancing restrictions, which directly affects the towns and cities that we lead. Even in COVID-19 hot spots such as Albany, Georgia, which has per capita infection rates on par with New York City’s, the mayor learned of the governor’s decision with the rest of the public, during an evening press conference last week."

Coronavirus resources

Click the links below to explore official resources related to the coronavirus outbreak.

State resources

Twitter feeds for government officials and agencies appear below.

Federal resources

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, "New Georgia Project v. Raffensperger: Order," October 2, 2020
  2. ↑ United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, "New Georgia Project v. Raffensperger: Order," August 31, 2020
  3. ↑ United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, "Cooper v. Raffensperger: Order," July 9, 2020
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Georgia Secretary of State, "RAFFENSPERGER ANNOUNCES POSTPONEMENT OF PRIMARY ELECTION UNTIL JUNE 9," April 9, 2020
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  6. ↑ Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "The Jolt: Georgia GOP cancels state convention, rewrites delegate selection process," April 14, 2020
  7. ↑ Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Georgia will mail absentee ballot forms to all active voters for May primary," March 24, 2020
  8. ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "RAFFENSPERGER TAKES UNPRECEDENTED STEPS TO PROTECT SAFETY AND VOTER INTEGRITY IN GEORGIA," March 24, 2020
  9. ↑ Ballot Access News, "Georgia Secretary of State Extends Petitioning Deadline for Minor Party and Independent Candidates," March 20, 2020
  10. ↑ Georgia Secretary of State, "SECRETARY OF STATE RAFFENSPERGER POSTPONES THE PRESIDENTIAL PREFERENCE PRIMARY," March 14, 2020
  11. ↑ Governor of Georgia, " Governor Kemp Issues Shelter in Place Order," April 2, 2020
  12. ↑ U.S. News and World Report, "Kemp Extends Georgia Stay-At-Home Order as Cases Pass 10,000," April 8, 2020
  13. ↑ Savannah Now, "Georgia chief justice extends statewide judicial emergency, but allows resumption of jury trials," October 10, 2020
  14. ↑ Law 360, "Georgia To Lift Jury Trial Suspension On Saturday," October 5, 2020
  15. ↑ Supreme Court of Georgia, "SIXTH ORDER EXTENDING DECLARATION OF STATEWIDE JUDICIAL EMERGENCY," September 10, 2020
  16. ↑ Savannah Now, "Georgia’s top judge extends court emergency, but says jury trials must resume soon," August 11, 2020
  17. ↑ WTOC, "Ga. judicial emergency order extended another month," July 10, 2020
  18. ↑ Law.com, "Judicial Emergency Extended 30 Days as Courthouses Prepare to Resume Most Operations," June 12, 2020
  19. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named May11
  20. ↑ Supreme Court of Georgia, "CHIEF JUSTICE WILL EXTEND STATEWIDE JUDICIAL EMERGENCY," May 4, 2020
  21. ↑ Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Georgia Supreme Court holds first ‘virtual’ court session," April 20, 2020
  22. ↑ The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Georgia’s chief justice declares ‘statewide judicial emergency,’" March 14, 2020
  23. ↑ Twitter, "Thomas Wheatley on March 12, 2020," accessed March 12, 2020
  24. ↑ WALB News 10, "Latest Georgia news, sports, business and entertainment at 9:20 p.m. EDT," May 12, 2020
  25. ↑ Million Acres, "Cities and States That Have Paused Evictions Due to COVID-19," April, 3, 2020
  26. ↑ City of Atlanta, "City of Atlanta Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Response," accessed April 9, 2020
  27. ↑ Gainesville Times, "Roughly 200 inmates released from Hall County Jail amid coronavirus response," March 25, 2020
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