Georgia is allowing some nonessential businesses to reopen in the state, but President Trump and the mayor of Atlanta are among those continuing to express strong disagreement.
Businesses in Georgia including barbershops, nail salons, bowling alleys, and gyms were permitted to start reopening Friday after closing amid the coronavirus pandemic, The New York Times reports. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) announced this plan on Monday even as health experts said it was too soon, and governors in Tennessee and South Carolina unveiled similar plans. Under Georgia's plan, restaurants and theaters can start to reopen on Monday while following social distancing guidelines.
But President Trump, after reportedly initially backing the reopening idea privately, has been criticizing it in recent days, on Thursday reiterating that he's "not happy" after saying he "disagreed strongly" with it and worrying that COVID-19 is going "to flare up because you're deciding to do something that's not in the guidelines."
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Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms (D) is encouraging those in the state to not go out yet.
"Stay home," she told Good Morning America Friday. "Listen to the scientists. There is nothing essential about going to a bowling alley or getting a manicure in the middle of a pandemic."
Bottoms said it's "unacceptable" that there are "some who are willing to sacrifice lives for the sake of the economy." The mayors of Augusta and Savannah have also disagreed with Kemp's decision.
Some businesses permitted to reopen have said they won't do so, but the Times reports that on Friday, "lines started forming around 7 a.m. and snaked around some businesses" in the state. Brendan Morrow
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