Photograph by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
Over the weekend, new re-openings were announced and Atlanta United earned another championship win. Here’s your Monday morning update:
• As of publication time, a total of 37,910 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in Georgia. 1,612 people have died. 364,289 tests have been conducted. A total of 6,864 of those tested were hospitalized at the time. [GA Dept. of Public Health]
• Early voting for Georgia’s June 9 primary begins today, and many polling locations are closed, due in part to a shortage of poll workers. (Many poll workers are over 60 and at a greater risk for COVID-19.) In Fulton County, polling locations within senior centers are closed, as are many library locations and the Fulton County Government Center. In DeKalb County, the First Baptist Church Decatur is closed, as is the Brookhaven-Briarwood Recreation Center and North DeKalb Senior Center in Chamblee. GPB News has a map here of which polling locations are open and which are closed. Most locations are also limiting the amount of people who can be inside at one time and the number of voting machines available, so please be patient at the polls. [GPB News]
• Chamblee’s city council held an in-person meeting on Thursday, where chairs were spaced 10-feet apart and temperatures were taken. Unfortunately, one meeting attendee, who was asymptomatic at the time, tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday. (The AJC reports that the person wore a mask and stayed six feet from others during the meeting.) The city council and Chamblee’s mayor are now self-isolating for two weeks, and the civic center will be closed for 10 days. [AJC]
• L.A. Fitness locations will begin re-opening this Friday as part of a “preview period,” meaning members will not be billed until June 1. Spas and saunas, basketball courts, and the Kids Klub will remain closed until June 1. [WSB-TV]
• Goodwill stores, which re-opened all of its stores on Wednesday but quickly paused donation drop-off after being “overwhelmed with the generosity of our donors,” are once again accepting donations at all of their locations. Stores are open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and are practicing contactless donation drop-off—just pop the trunk and an employee will collect your donations and leave a receipt. (Be sure to clearly label your donations.) Alternately, customers can place their donations in a designated area outside the store and pick up a receipt there. [Goodwill of North Georgia]
• Atlanta United was crowned the winner of the eMLS Tournament Special, a FIFA 2020 competition held to entertain fans while MLS games are still suspended. Each team was represented by an MLS and eMLS player—for Atlanta, that was Franco Escobar and Paulo Neto. And, of course, club president Darren Eales posted his signature photo upon Atlanta’s victory. [ATLUTD press release]
Sweet dreams, Atlanta!#eMLSTournamentSpecial #UniteAndConquer pic.twitter.com/WUeOnXNZeG
— Darren Eales (@DEalesATLUTD) May 18, 2020
