From our May 8th legislative update from liaison Scott Maxwell:
“Any Georgian who wants a COVID-19 test can get one, whether or not they have symptoms. So said Gov. Brian Kemp last week shortly after letting his broad shelter-in-place executive order expire on April 30th. Sixty-six state testing sites have been set up at various locations around Georgia in addition to the private entities, hospitals and doctors’ offices that initiate tests. The announcement coincided with reports that there was a backlog of 4,000 test specimens at inundated labs, but Kemp said that issue was being resolved. The state is expected to receive 210,000 test kits from the federal government via weekly shipments during May in an effort to keep pace with demand. In recent weeks Georgia has moved from 45th to 29th in the nation for the number of COVID-19 tests administered per capita.”
The report also outlines the latest conversations at the state capitol about the budget and Georgia’s economy.