By Beau Evans, Capitol Beat News Service
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Unsplash. Vacation rentals in Georgia will be allowed to reopen Friday.
Vacation rentals in Georgia will be allowed to reopen Friday following weeks of coronavirus-prompted closures.
Gov. Brian Kemp gave the green light for bed-and-breakfast establishments and online bookings like Airbnb late Monday on the heels of allowing many other types of businesses to reopen in recent days, including dine-in restaurants, gyms, movie theaters and barbershops.
On Twitter Monday night, Kemp said his decision to let short-term rental businesses reopen was “based on favorable data and stakeholder input.” He said vacationers should still keep their distance from each other if they book a rental.
“We urge people to continue to follow social distancing and sanitation rules to prevent the spread of COVID-19,” the governor wrote.
Kemp and state health officials have touted models and reporting from local hospitals that indicate a slowdown in coronavirus cases and emergency-room visits, though positive cases and deaths traced to the highly infectious virus continue to mount in Georgia.
As of noon Tuesday, roughly 24,600 people had tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel strain of coronavirus that sparked a global pandemic. It had killed 1,025 Georgians.
Kemp has faced criticism since last week from public health experts and local elected officials for letting close-contact businesses like restaurants and barbershops reopen.