Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms says that she was “baffled, stunned, and angered” when she learned of the Georgia Governor’s plan to begin allowing businesses to reopen amid the coronavirus pandemic.
On Monday, Governor Brian Kemp said that barber shops, beauty salons, gyms, massage parlors, cosmetologists, tattoo parlors, and nail salons are among businesses allowed to reopen beginning this Friday. Dine-in restaurants and theaters would be allowed to reopen on Monday, April 27. Kemp said the businesses must utilize social distancing requirements. He also gave houses of worship the go-ahead to meet in person.
Mayor Bottoms tells V103 Atlanta’s Big Tigger, “We have medical professionals asking us not to go out.” She adds, “Looking at those businesses carved out, you can’t distance yourself when you’re utilizing those services.”
As of noon Tuesday, there were 19,881 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Georgia and 799 related deaths, according to the state’s department of public health. State health officials say the cases are “plateauing”, and support the Governor’s decision to start reopening businesses.
According to Bottoms, “The reason our numbers look better than a lot of cities is because we were aggressive in closing things down. But just because you now have the space in the hospitals doesn’t mean we should let our guard down and work to fill them up.”
Bottoms, who first issued a shelter-in-place executive order on March 24, is asking residents to stay put, saying, “Do something all of us have the ability to do, and that’s to exercise common sense.”
Atlanta Mayor Kicks off Beauty Fund
Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms often talks about her mother who owned a beauty salon in Atlanta for 25 years. “My mother would not have been able to survive if she’d had to close her business down for a week, or 5 or 6 weeks or longer," she explains.
Starting with $10,000 from her campaign, Bottoms has launched the “Strength In Beauty Fund” through ATLstrong.org. She says it’s to help the beauty industry during the coronavirus pandemic. She adds that Governor Kemp telling them to go back to work makes it worse. “They’re putting their unemployment benefits in jeopardy by not going back to work.” Bottoms suggests, ”Whatever you’ve saved by not going to the barber shop over the past few weeks please donate it to this fund.”
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