By Amanda Prestigiacomo
On Monday, Republican Govs. Brian Kemp and Bill Lee, of Georgia and Tennessee respectively, announced major moves in reopening their economies.
In Georgia, fitness centers, beauty shops, and other businesses are eligible to reopen starting on Friday, while Tennessee will see its stay-at-home order expire on April 30.
“The current White House criteria to reopen America includes three phases, and Kemp said that the state was ‘on track to meet the criteria for Phase One’ by having adequate testing, hospital capacity, and contact tracing of the virus,” Fox 5 Atlanta reported Monday.
In order to meet the federal threshold of “phase one” in reopening, Gov. Kemp said the state of Georgia will be partnering with Georgia Health system to “double down” on testing, according to the report.
“Testing defines the battlefield and aids our long term strategy,” the Republican noted.
With COVID-19 under control in Georgia, the state will be allowed to resume elective surgeries, and “gyms, fitness centers, bowling alleys, beauty shops and salons, barbershops, body art studios, and more would be able to open Friday, April 24,” reported Fox 5 Atlanta.
The businesses will be reopening with new guidance, allowing additional sanitation measures and social distancing, for example.
By April 27, said Kemp, movie theaters and dine-in restaurants will be allowed to reopen, again, with social distancing measures.