Kemp Urges COVID-19 Vaccinations But Still Won't Mandate Masks

ATLANTA — Capitalizing on the recent reversal in mask guidelines, Gov. Brian Kemp blitzed social media Wednesday, urging Georgians to vaccinate while declaring that he would not mandate face coverings.

“The data is clear,” Kemp posted to Twitter. “Thanks to efforts initiated under the Trump Administration, we have a medical miracle in multiple vaccines that protect from the virus and save lives. Nearly all new COVID hospitalizations in Georgia are among the unvaccinated.”

The data is clear. Thanks to efforts initiated under the Trump Administration, we have a medical miracle in multiple vaccines that protect from the virus and save lives. Nearly all new COVID hospitalizations in Georgia are among the unvaccinated.
— Governor Brian P. Kemp (@GovKemp) July 28, 2021

Soon thereafter, Kemp tweeted that the “biggest obstacle to getting more people vaccinated and the country returning to normal is the mixed messages from Washington D.C. and those with partisan agendas. In Georgia, we’ve been consistent.”

The biggest obstacle to getting more people vaccinated and the country returning to normal is the mixed messages from Washington D.C. and those with partisan agendas. In Georgia, we have been consistent.
— Governor Brian P. Kemp (@GovKemp) July 28, 2021

That tweet was a dig at new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, recommending that fully vaccinated people wear masks indoors if they live where COVID-19 is spreading significantly. That’s a reversal of earlier advice that those who’d been vaccinated could go maskless.

Earlier, Kemp tweeted: “As the first state in the country to reopen over a year ago, we’ve proven that Georgians how know to come together and protect themselves and their loved ones.”

As the first state in the country to reopen over a year ago, we’ve proven that Georgians know how to come together and protect themselves and their loved ones.
— Governor Brian P. Kemp (@GovKemp) July 28, 2021

That’s not exactly true. With the new school year approaching, a patchwork of mask mandates across districts and many still at odds with each other over the virus, Georgia ranks near the bottom for vaccinations, with only about 38 percent fully protected. On Monday, Savannah became the first major Georgia jurisdiction to require masks on its property, vaccinated or not.

Georgia Coronavirus Numbers For July 28, 2021

The Georgia Department of Public Health in Atlanta reported a total of 926,707 confirmed cases of COVID-19 at 2:50 p.m. Wednesday, July 28. According to the health department's website, that includes 2,443 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours. In addition, Georgia reported 1,540 new antigen-positive cases — which are considered to be probable cases of COVID-19 — since Tuesday.

Georgia has reported 18,691 deaths so far from COVID-19, with 11 more confirmed deaths recorded since Tuesday. Georgia also reported 2,963 probable deaths from COVID-19 since the pandemic began. These probable deaths include fatalities with indirect evidence of COVID-19.

Georgia reported 66,742 hospitalizations and 11,348 admissions so far to intensive-care units.

No information is available from Georgia about how many patients have recovered.

Counties in or near metro Atlanta and other metropolitan areas continue to have the highest number of COVID-19 positives, with Gwinnett County in the lead and Fulton County close behind it. These statistics do not include antigen-positive cases.

1. Gwinnett County: 89,502 cases — 128 new
2. Fulton County: 86,491 cases — 204 new
3. Cobb County: 63,749 cases — 170 new
4. DeKalb County: 60,664 cases — 137 new
5. Hall County: 26,001 cases — 35 new
6. Clayton County: 25,392 — 54 new
7. Cherokee County: 23,256 — 31 new
8. Chatham County: 21,646 — 116 new
9. Richmond County: 20,840 — 56 new
10. Henry County: 20,539 — 103 new

Counties in or near metro Atlanta also continue to have the most deaths from COVID-19.

1. Fulton County: 1,378 deaths — 2 new
2. Gwinnett County: 1,135 deaths
3. Cobb County: 1,027 deaths
4. DeKalb County: 997 deaths
5. Clayton County: 499 deaths — 1 new
6. Hall County: 476 deaths
7. Chatham County: 443 deaths
8. Richmond County: 441 deaths
9. Muscogee County: 439 deaths
10. Bibb County: 422 deaths

All Georgia statistics are available on the state's COVID-19 website.

Globally, more than 195.7 million people have tested positive for COVID-19, and nearly 4.2 million people have died from it, Johns Hopkins University reported Wednesday.

In the United States, more than 34.6 million people have been infected and more than 611,000 people have died from COVID-19 as of Wednesday. The U.S. has only about 4 percent of the world's population but more confirmed cases and deaths than any other country.

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