Myrydd Wells

Photograph by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

On Friday, the Atlanta open was canceled and more businesses began to re-open. Here’s your Saturday morning update:

• As of publication time, a total of 37,078 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in Georgia. 1,588 people have died. 321,069 tests have been conducted. A total of 6,567 of those tested were hospitalized at the time. [GA Dept. of Public Health]

• Let’s talk about lag—on Friday, Slate published a story about the 14-day window that appears on end of the “COVID-19 Cases Over Time” graph on the state health department’s COVID-19 dashboard. As the state’s website says, “Confirmed cases over the last 14 days may not be accounted for due to illnesses yet to be reported or test results may still be pending”—for example, at publication time of this article, the graph shows only 1 positive COVID-19 case for today, a number that will certainly change. The Slate article used graphs to illustrate just how much those unconfirmed numbers can change by using a chart of the 14-day predicted period ending April 29—on April 29 itself, the chart appeared to show cases in Georgia declining during that 14 day period. But two weeks later on May 13, once the data was confirmed, you can see cases during that same time period were actually plateauing.

A data-driven Op-Ed joint w/@BeckettStephen on how Georgia's #COVID19 cases were not declining in late April (despite what was claimed), but instead, were in a plateau. https://t.co/Xpa0ZZGLSW pic.twitter.com/sucPF3x9Ua

— Joshua Weitz (@joshuasweitz) May 15, 2020

For businesses owners and residents alike, the lag can be frustrating, as there isn’t a clear way to see how cases are trending right now as opposed to two weeks ago. The article suggests, “One way to deal with this could be to try to compare gaps in reported cases vs. final totals after reporting windows have passed. Such information could guide hindsight casting and provide improved estimates of real-time cases during reporting windows.”

Ultimately, it’s important to know how to read whatever data set you’re looking at. If you’re looking at the state dashboard, you need to be mindful of the 14-day lag. The numbers for May 3, which are still preliminary, will probably not change a ton at this point, but the numbers for May 15 and 16 certainly will. [Slate]

• Pop-up testing will take place today at Home Depot Backyard (next to Mercedes-Benz Stadium) from 10 a.m. to 4 pm. You can register on-site, but advance registration is recommended here. [AJC]

• The Truist Atlanta Open tennis tournament (formerly known as the BB&T Atlanta Open) has been officially canceled. It was originally set to be held from July 25 to August 2 at Atlantic Station. [AJC]

• Following United and the Hawks, the Atlanta Falcons are set to return to their training facility on Tuesday. [AJC]

• Several YMCA facilities have re-opened, including East Lake, Carl E. Sanders (Moores Mill Road), Northeast Cobb, and Northwest Family (Kennesaw). WSB-TV has a list here. [WSB-TV]

• The list of restaurants opening for dine-in (or at least patio dine-in) continues to grow. Among the recent additions are Aria, Cafe Intermezzo, Chat Patti, D92 Korean BBQ, and Superica. Eater Atlanta is keeping a full list here. [Eater Atlanta]

• If you’re still not comfortable with dine-in, we’ve also rounded up those on our 75 Best Restaurants list who are offering takeout and delivery—50 in total. Ordering takeout from some of your old favorites can be way to revive fond memories and keep traditions alive. It can also help you form new memories, as our deputy editor Mara Shalhoup writes in her essay about ordering takeout for the past two months. A short excerpt below:

Of all the times I’ve walked up to Gato’s front door, though, none were like my visit on a Saturday in late April, when the front door was blocked by a metal patio table offering industrial-strength hand sanitizer, and my order of a breakfast burrito, huevos ranchero, and pancakes was deposited there for me. Stinson also hand-delivered a ziplock bag packed with the pound of his fresh masa that I’d ordered, which I pressed into tortillas at home in an attempt to recapture some of the magic of eating at Gato. It actually worked.

Many diners feel a pang of sadness when gazing upon the dining rooms, now empty, that have populated their memories. I’ve felt those pangs, too, a little, but mostly I’ve found comfort in peering into these hollowed spaces. Unlike most other ghosts, these are ones that, with enough sheer will (on the part of the people who run them, those who frequented them, and, hopefully, the organizations and governmental agencies that will step up aid), can slowly materialize, solidifying again into their former selves. (Keep reading.)

Photograph by Jessica McGowan/Getty Images

On Thursday, Georgia’s unemployment rate continued to rise and Zoo Atlanta announced its re-opening. Here’s your Friday morning update:

• As of publication time, a total of 36,554 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in Georgia. 1,548 people have died. 301,874 tests have been conducted. A total of 6,381 of those tested were hospitalized at the time. [GA Dept. of Public Health]

• The Georgia Department of Labor processed 242,772 unemployment claims last week, bringing the total claims since the beginning of March to 1,849,382, or 37 percent of the state’s pre-pandemic workforce, the AJC reports. The national average is 22 percent. “The crush of applications for jobless benefits seemed largely unaffected by the state’s tentative efforts to open up the economy,” the AJC notes. Earlier this week, labor commissioner Mark Butler told us that Georgia’s higher-than-average claim rate might be due to the fact that Georgia is actually processing claims faster than other states. “For example, we’ve got Florida to the south of us. I think last week, out of all the claims they’d received, they’d only processed 12 percent,” Butler said. “That means they’ve gotten [the claim] in their system and it’s starting to move. By this time last week, we were at 80 percent of the claims that we’d gotten in, processed, and started paying out. Obviously, a lot of people still haven’t been paid.” [AJC/Atlanta]

• In our interview, Butler also answered several of your reader-submitted questions about unemployment claims, including how to apply for PUA, how much employees can earn each week and still receive benefits, what happen if your employer re-opens but you aren’t comfortable going back, and more. Read the full story here.

• The latest COVID-19 spike in Hall County is concerning DeKalb CEO Michael Thurmond. Even though the two counties are 40 miles away, several DeKalb county residents work in Gainsville’s chicken plants. Refugees in Clarkston are among the many who work at the plants, and a Clarkston physician told the AJC that language barriers and cramped living spaces don’t help the situation. As the AJC notes, “Things may cut both ways, of course, with folks from DeKalb contributing to the spread in Hall. Definitive conclusions will be hard to come by.” Says DeKalb’s district health director Dr. Elizabeth Ford, “We’ve been working very closely with Hall County and with (DeKalb’s) Clarkston community to make sure that they understand what precautions they as employees can take, and making sure that we make testing available to them.” [AJC]

• The CDC has issued a health advisory about Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children (MIS-C), a rare condition that has been associated with COVID-19. Symptoms present similar to Kawasaki syndrome—another rare condition that usually impacts children younger than 5 and causes inflammation of the blood vessels, including coronary arteries. MIS-C causes fever and inflammation, sometimes presenting as a bright red tongue, red eyes, or cracked lips. One physician at Boston Children’s Hospital told CNN that MIS-C is not caused by the coronavirus itself, but rather is an immune response to COVID-19. [CDC/CNN]

• Zoo Atlanta has announced it will re-open this weekend, and like the Atlanta Botanical Garden, it will rely on timed tickets to keep tabs on capacity. Tickets can only be purchased online in advance, and the zoo will be cashless. Visitors are encouraged to use maps on their cell phones, as paper maps will no longer be distributed. Buildings will also be closed with the exception of restrooms. Food will be available for purchase from outdoor kiosks. Masks are strongly encouraged. [WSB-TV]

• Beginning Saturday, Publix is changing its store hours to 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. and will no longer restrict the 7 a.m. hour to seniors and those with underlying conditions. It does encourage those shoppers to still visit during that time, as it’s generally less crowded. Pharmacies will also return to regular hours. [Publix]