Photograph by Rob Carr/Getty Images
On Friday, two more restaurants shuttered due to the crisis. Here’s your Saturday morning update:
• As of publication time, there have been 32,497 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Georgia. 1,400 people have died. 235,324 tests have been conducted. 5,981 of those tested were hospitalized at the time. [GA Dept. of Public Health]
• Researchers at the University of Maryland looked at smartphone location data and determined that after Governor Brian Kemp allowed businesses such as hair salons, bowling alleys, and restaurant dining rooms to re-open, the state saw a 13 percent increase of out-of-state visitors (more than 62,000 people). 92 percent came from Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Florida. Even though these states were also allowing some businesses to re-open, Georgia had many more options available. The lead researcher on the project told the Washington Post he suspects the trips were likely for pleasure rather than businesses, as many workplaces have not re-opened. “It seems people are traveling there for things they can’t do, or for business that aren’t open, in their own state,” he said. [Washington Post]
• Delta is suspending service to several secondary airports, including Chicago Midway, Oakland, Akron-Canton, Hollywood Burbank, Newport News/Williamsburg, and a handful of others through September. [AJC]
• Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has ordered the flags at Atlanta City Hall to be lowered to half-mast and said on Twitter, “They will remain lowered until we flatten the curve.” She credited D.L. Hughley’s radio show for “raising the consciousness of this needed act.” [Twitter]
• Two more restaurants have closed permanently due to the COVID-19 crisis—Will Turner is shutting down the brick-and-mortar location of Blaxican in Peachtree Corners but plans to keep the food truck running and continue catering. On Buford Highway, Panahar Bangladeshi Cuisine will shutter after 20 years. [Eater Atlanta 1/Eater Atlanta 2]
• It’s not just the residents of nursing homes and senior living facilities that are getting pummeled by COVID-19—the AJC reports that “[Georgia’s] count of infected long-term care workers has more than doubled since mid-April, reaching 1,824 as of Thursday.” Many of these workers make “little more than minimum wage,” the paper notes. When employees are sick, facilities face staffing shortages, and that means seniors may not receive the full care they need. Health officials and industry leaders are calling for more rapid testing to be offered to senior care facilities to help prevent the spread, the AJC says. [AJC]
