Foreign Desk Report
ATLANTA: With the US coronavirus death toll topping 50,000, Georgia pushed ahead with its plan to become the first state to allow an array of small businesses to reopen on Friday despite the disapproval of President Donald Trump and health experts.
Gyms, hair salons, tattoo parlors and some other businesses were cleared to open their doors by Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, who disregarded warnings from public health experts that relaxing restrictions could lead to a surge in infections of the novel coronavirus and more deaths. The southern U.S. state has become a flashpoint in the debate over how quickly the country should get back to work.
US Representative Doug Collins from Georgia, a Republican like the governor, said reopening on Friday was confusing for customers.
“Everyone’s supposed to be staying home, but yet we’re opening up these businesses,” Collins told Fox News. He cited federal guidelines calling for states to experience a two-week decline in cases first, and said parts of Georgia were still struggling to treat patients.
The Republican Trump has given mixed signals about when and how the country should begin to get back to work after weeks in lockdown. This month he called for Democratic governors in big states to “liberate” their citizens from the stay-at-home orders but, in a reversal, he told a news conference this week he disapproved of Georgia’s move to reopen. The number of Americans known to be infected surpassed 875,000, with 50,000 deaths from COVID-19, the highly contagious respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus, according to a Reuters tally.
Late on Thursday Trump sparked fresh confusion over the prospects for treating COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus, suggesting that scientists should investigate whether patients might be cured by ingesting disinfectant. Georgia is the first state to embark on a widespread reopening, although Oklahoma was also opening some retail businesses on Friday, Florida started allowing people to visit some of its beaches last Friday, South Carolina began to ease restrictions on Monday and other states will relax guidelines next week.
Governors in many states are eager to get their economies back in gear. The lockdowns have exacted a severe toll, with US Labor Department data released on Thursday showing 26.5 million Americans had sought jobless benefits over the last five weeks.
Despite the lost revenues, not all eligible businesses in Georgia are jumping at the chance to reopen. Shay Cannon, owner of Liberty Tattoo in Atlanta, said he would reopen in May by appointment only and did not foresee a return to normal until June or later. “We are not opening today, we feel it is too soon,” Cannon told Reuters. “We’re just watching the numbers and doing what seems right to us.” Jasmine Maskell, owner of Timeless Tattoo in Atlanta, said that she was not opening on Friday but would slowly resume business over the next couple of weeks under strict precautions.
