Kemp To Ease GA COVID-19 Restrictions: 'We Have Been Open'

ATLANTA — Gov. Brian Kemp has signaled his intention to fully open Georgia this week amid expanding vaccinations and despite a plateau in COVID-19 cases.

“We are open,” Kemp said of the state. “We have been open.”

Friday he sent out a message via social media calling for the state to fully rollback public restrictions put in place to prevent the spread of the deadly virus with a nod to reactivating businesses in the state to pre-pandemic operating levels.

“Next week, we’ll roll out our plan to loosen the remaining COVID restrictions in the state,” he said in a tweet. “Georgians know the right thing to do.”

Hardworking Georgians can’t endure another year like the last. Next week, we’ll roll out our plan to loosen the remaining COVID restrictions in the state. Georgians know the right thing to do. We are open. We have been open, and we’re ready to welcome you to the Peach State. pic.twitter.com/mk1CzCRirQ
— Governor Brian P. Kemp (@GovKemp) March" class="redactor-linkify-object">https://twitter.com/GovKemp/st... 26, 2021

The governor’s public health state of emergency, which was issued in March of last year and has been extended month over month since then, is set to expire on April 6.

While Kemp has already called for quarantines to end for Georgians fully vaccinated for more than two weeks, restrictions on large gatherings, restaurants and public venues could be removed as early as this week, however, depending on what Kemp decides.

States like Mississippi and Texas have already completely suspended regulations limiting capacity in public places and eliminating mask mandates -- a step Kemp has never taken.

Georgia was one of the first in the nation to reopen restaurants, bars, salons, barbershops, theaters and gyms in April.

During a surge in coronavirus cases in July, Kemp said state leaders sought to project lives and businesses “by relying on data and the advice of public health officials.”

But a recent investigative report from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, however, pointed to more than 15,000 emails between the Governor’s office and the state public health agency revealing how Kemp repeatedly disregarded the advice of chief commissioner Dr. Kathleen Toomey.