Barber shops, nail salons, gyms and a few other businesses reopened in Georgia on Friday as the Republican governor eased a month-long shutdown despite warnings from health experts of a potential new surge of coronavirus infections.
The confirmed COVID-19 deaths in the United States crossed 50,000, according to a tally compiled by John Hopkins University from government figures.
Georgia has so far 22,147 COVID-19 cases with 892 deaths from testing 101,433 people, according to a tally in John Hopkins University.
That means about 20% of the tested had COVID-19. Georgia tops 12th in COVID-19 cases in the US states.
Even though limited in scope, the reopenings in Georgia and at least two other states marked a symbolic milestone in the debate raging in the United States – and the world — as to how quickly political leaders should lift economically damaging lockdown orders.
With deaths and infections still rising in Georgia, many business owners planned to stay closed despite Gov. Brian Kemp’s assurance that hospital visits and new cases have leveled off enough for barbers, tattoo artists, massage therapists and personal trainers to return to work with restrictions.
