Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said on Friday that he doesn’t plan to require the use of masks or implement new coronavirus limits despite the new COVID-19 cases have been reported.
During a visit to a testing site at Lilburn First Baptist Church this morning, Kemp said, “I’m certainly not imposing new restrictions right now. I think what we have on the books has done very well for us,” he told the AJC. “We’re not letting our guard down. …We’ve got to continue to fight the fight hard every day. We’ve got to continue to jump on the hotspots.”
Kemp said he would not join other states, despite wearing a mask as he toured the Gwinnett Public Health Department’s testing site, in making it mandatory for people to wear masks in public.
“Mandating that I think is a bridge too far for me right now,” Kemp said. “We have to have the public buy-in. Over the last several months, the public has done that.”
At least 18 states have made masks mandatory. Kemp said he was concerned there was no widespread “public buy-in” for a mask-wearing requirement.
“There’s some people that just do not want to wear a mask. I’m sensitive to that from a political environment of having people buy into that, and creating other issues out there,” he said. “But it’s definitely a good idea.”
As of June 25, Georgia has reported 71,095 confirmed cases and 2,745 deaths.
