Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) has made the decision to begin slowly scaling back coronavirus restrictions and reopening certain businesses, and one leading health expert believes he is getting ahead of himself.
Scott Gottlieb, former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner, is claiming the state is not prepared to begin reopening.
“Georgia is certainly jumping the gun, I think here, getting started too early relative to where they are in their epidemic,” Gottlieb said.
Watch his comments below:
ANALYSIS: “Georgia is certainly not out of the woods,” @ScottGottliebMD tells @margbrennan and that the state continues to see increases in #coronavirus cases as the state is set to reopen sectors of its economy. “Georgia is jumping the gun,” he adds. pic.twitter.com/ccq6LSOUqL
— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) April 26, 2020
Gottlieb was asked how Georgia’s decision affects the rest of the nation and if that increases the likelihood of infection.
He confirmed it does increase the risk of infection and reiterated Georgia is not completely safe yet.
“Georgia is certainly not out of the woods,” Gottlieb said.
He explained although the state may have plateaued, they are still seeing a lot of new cases.
Gottlieb noted the reopening of the United States is going to be a gradual process rather than an immediate one.
“It’s going to take some time until we see sustained declines in new cases and get to the point where there’s low enough level of spread in the country that we can feel comfortable opening parts of the country,” Gottlieb said.
He added, “It’s going to probably be mid-May maybe late May as parts of this nation.”
Kemp is standing by his decision to begin partially reopening Georgia, as IJR previously reported.
“For weeks now, my team has worked closely with the Trump Administration and our federal counterparts to mitigate the impact of [coronavirus] in Georgia. Our decisions and direction are informed by data and public health recommendations,” Kemp tweeted.
President Donald Trump has claimed he has never given Kemp the go-ahead to open certain businesses in Georgia.
“I (or [Mike Pence]) never gave Governor Brian Kemp an OK on those few businesses outside of the Guidelines. FAKE NEWS!” Trump tweeted.
