With more in hospital, Kemp says Georgia gaining on COVID-19

ATLANTA | Gov. Brian Kemp said Wednesday that Georgia “continues to make solid progress in the fight against COVID-19” even as the number of people hospitalized with the respiratory illness continued to rise.

Kemp made the remarks in a recorded video that his office released Wednesday.

“Our hospitalizations remain low and surge capacity is high,” the Republican said, referring to the state's efforts to build temporary hospital beds in multiple locations.

Numbers released later Wednesday show that the number of people hospitalized with coronavirus infections rose to 1,124. That's the highest number since May 12 and a 44% increase since the number of hospitalized people bottomed out on June 7.

Georgia's total infections rose to near 70,000 Wednesday, and the state has been averaging more than 1,100 new confirmed infections a day over the last 14 days. That's substantially higher than the earlier peak in late April.

“While I’m proud of our swift response and measured steps forward, we cannot grow complacent," Kemp said, urging people to wear a mask and keep their distance from others. “This virus is deadly and remains a threat to our great state.”

While the number of tests has increased, Department of Public Health spokeswoman Nancy Nydam said Monday that the increasing number of hospitalizations represents a real increase in the disease level.

“Yes, there is an increase, and as I said, we expected it to happen as people started to get out and move around more,” Nydam wrote in an email.

Kemp's remarks came as Democrats in the legislature asked whether Kemp would extend his emergency powers and the state's public universities continue to announce plans to resume in-person instruction.

When lawmakers approved Kemp's declaration of a public health emergency in March, they gave him the ability to extend his emergency powers without their approval. Kemp still is ordering restrictions, such as barring visitors from nursing homes, and his current orders run through at least June 30.

The Democrats asked Kemp to make clear what additional orders he may issue after lawmakers adjourn on Friday.

"We want to return to normal state governmental operations as soon as possible,” Sen. Steve Henson of Stone Mountain and Rep. Bob Trammell of Luthersville, the Democratic leaders in each chamber, said in a statement. “Leaving the legislative session without addressing the status of the Governor’s emergency powers would be irresponsible."

Kemp's office didn't immediately respond to the Democrats' statement.

The University of Georgia and Kennesaw State University are the latest of Georgia's 26 public colleges and universities to announce its plans for in-person instruction in the fall. The universities joined others, including Fort Valley State and private universities Emory and Mercer, in announcing it would wrap up in-person instruction before Thanksgiving.

Unlike some others, UGA and Kennesaw State announced that classes and exams would continue online after Thanksgiving. Fort Valley, for example, will start classes in early August and end all instruction before the November holiday.

“All students will leave the campus to help mitigate the spread of illness during the onset of flu season,” Fort Valley State’s announcement says.

Among other universities announcing plans for students in recent days are Georgia Southern University, the University of North Georgia and the University of West Georgia.

Some large public universities including Georgia Tech and Georgia State University have yet to announce detailed plans for students.