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In Georgia, Shelter-in-Place Order Closes Businesses and Reopens Beaches

The order supersedes actions taken by some coastal communities, and it reflects the tensions between state and local officials across the country in responding to the coronavirus.

Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia signed a shelter-in-place order on Thursday that shut down some businesses but allowed beaches to reopen, superseding orders by local officials.Credit...Stephen B. Morton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution, via Associated Press

ATLANTA — Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia signed a shelter-in-place order on Thursday, shutting down restaurant dining rooms, barbershops, bars and gyms across the state. He called it an effort to buy critical time as Georgia braced for a surge in cases of the coronavirus.

Yet as soon as the order went into effect the next evening, the sandy beaches on Tybee Island, which had been closed for two weeks, were once again open to the public.

The executive order signed by Mr. Kemp, who had been among the governors resisting more-stringent measures, has stirred a backlash from some local officials as it superseded their efforts to curb the virus’s spread, particularly in coastal communities that had moved to close beaches on their own.

“No one wants to walk on the beach more than I,” Shirley Sessions, the mayor of Tybee Island, a community of about 3,000 people just below the South Carolina state line, said in a letter to Mr. Kemp. “However, I firmly believe it is a small sacrifice to pay in the long run to help conquer this Covid-19 enemy.”

State officials said that the rules maintain social distancing and discourage beachgoers from spreading out on the sand. Congregating is forbidden. Tents and chairs are not allowed. State law enforcement officials will also ramp up patrols on the beaches, in parking lots and on the highways leading to the coast.

“People who voluntarily leave their shelters to go to our beaches can only do so for the purpose of outdoor exercise,” Josh Hildebrandt, a spokesman for the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, said in a statement.

The dispute in Georgia reflects the tensions that have flared between state and local officials across the country in responding to the pandemic. In South Carolina, some of its largest cities implemented stay-at-home ordinances after Gov. Henry McMaster delayed in ordering those measures, prompting the State Attorney General’s Office to weigh in. It issued an opinion that said such authority belonged to the governor and not municipal officials.

In Florida, some believed that a statewide order issued by Gov. Ron DeSantis might override tougher ordinances enacted by cities, but he made it clear that it outlined minimum guidelines.

Mr. Kemp, a Republican, faced increasing criticism over the past week as he avoided implementing stricter orders that many states had already employed.

He also was among the governors who cited fears of wrecking local economies and argued that they believed in maintaining personal responsibility, rather than issuing a mandate. Most of the governors contended that although they did not implement stay-at-home orders, they acted aggressively in other ways. But over the last few days, some of those governors relented.

In Alabama, Gov. Kay Ivey signed an executive order that went into effect on Saturday evening. “Late yesterday afternoon, it became obvious that more has to be done,” she said in a news conference on Friday, adding, “Bottom line: Folks just aren’t paying attention.”

The shelter-in-place order in Georgia went into effect on Friday at 6 p.m. and expires on April 13. Mr. Kemp argued that the action was necessary as the state prepared for a sharp rise in cases expected in the coming days.

“To win this war, we have to hunker down and continue to chop a lot of wood,” Mr. Kemp said at a news conference on Thursday, adding, “It is best you stay home. For the most part, Georgians are heeding this advice and I couldn’t be more grateful for that.”

But officials in some of the local beach communities argued that the order stood to hurt their efforts.

“We had carefully considered ways to keep people safe here and the governor’s order has undermined everything we were doing,” Peter Murphy, a commissioner in Glynn County who represents St. Simons Island, a coastal resort area, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. St. Simons Island beaches had closed on March 21.

On Tybee Island, which closed its beaches on March 20, officials expressed fears of endangering the health of residents and taxing the local police force. Indeed, Ms. Sessions, the mayor, said that all six of its officers are quarantined. Officials said the city is not opening parking lots and lifeguards will not be on duty.

Game wardens reported that the beaches across the state remained largely quiet and there were no problems with maintaining social distancing. On Saturday, the conditions on Tybee Island were ideal for a day at the beach: sunny and about 70 degrees. But beach cameras showed a spread of empty sand with the occasional person strolling past or splashing in the water.

A correction was made on 
April 5, 2020

An earlier version of a picture caption with this article misspelled the given name of the governor of Georgia. He is Brian Kemp, not Bryan.

How we handle corrections

Rick Rojas is a national correspondent covering the American South. He has been a staff reporter for The Times since 2014. More about Rick Rojas

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