Georgia shutdown supporters,
I hope you are managing to stay safe.
When will Governor Kemp take appropriate action?!
On Monday, there were less that 1,000 cases in the state. Five days later, we have over over 2,400. 660 patients with COVID-19 are hospitalized, nearly 27% of known positives. 79 Georgians and counting have died (https://dph.georgia.gov/covid-19-daily-status-report) Our hospitals are being stretched thin rapidly. We are running out of time to change the trajectory of this disease in Georgia.
Governor Kemp's assumption that the virus impacts counties variably based on density, and therefore shutdown policies should be enacted locally, could not be further from the reality we are witnessing. Dougherty County, with a population of less than 100,000, has the most deaths of any county in the state. Furthermore, movement of individuals between low and high-density areas is logistically impossible.
This is not a local issue. It is not a county issues. It is not even a state or national issue. We are in midst of a GLOBAL pandemic of proportions we have not seen. Governor Kemp must protect Georgians by shutting down the state to contain the virus. If he does not, the virus will shut down the state for him.
Please keep doing your part to urge Governor Kemp to take bold action. We do not have time to waste. He must not only shut down the state, but also request a major disaster declaration, which has been granted to states with fewer cases.
Please take a moment to share this petition through every available outlet - word of mouth, mass text messages, social media, and calls to your local and state elected officials. There is power in numbers and we will be heard. We must ensure that we are heard sooner than later. Every passing day of unimpeded virus transmission is costing lives and leaving loved ones with immeasurable grief.
The economy* will recover. Lost lives will not.
Stay safe, stay home,
Akshat
*Concerns about the economy will be addressed in a separate update. For now, suffice it to say that the economy is not viable so long as the virus is spreading this rapidly due to suppressed demand for goods and services. A complete statewide shutdown would bring us to the other side of this crisis faster than the Governor's current half measures, thereby allowing economic activity to return closer to pre-virus levels more quickly.