Georgia Legislature Gives Governor Extraordinary Powers To Deal With Health Emergency; State's Coronavirus Cases Reach 146 - Up From 121 In 1 Day

  • Tuesday, March 17, 2020

The Georgia Legislature on Monday gave Governor Brian Kemp extraordinary powers to deal with the current health emergency.

House 1 Rep. Colton Moore said it was the most sweeping powers in the state's 232-year history.

Meanwhile, the state's coronavirus cases have reached 146 - up from 121 in one day. The state has one coronavirus death - a 67-year-old Cobb County man.

Rep. Moore said the action "may cause some up around Sand Mountain to believe this is martial law," but he said he is confident "this is a very liberty minded governor."

The governor would have the power to act on his own in distributing resources from the federal government in seeking to combat the spreading coronavirus.

Rep. Moore said he would have the ability to take over private property if necessary. He said an example would be to utilize a hotel for housing virus patients or a farmer's field for setting up a tent hospital.

He said Governor Kemp will have the assigned drastic powers for 30 days, but it was agreed in a compromise that the governor could renew the powers for another 30 days "should we not be able to return to the capitol."

The cases remain centered around the Atlanta area, with 33 now in Cobb County and 25 in Fulton County. Gwinnett County now has seven - up from four.

Bartow County south of Chattanooga now has 10 cases - up from six the previous day. Floyd County has six cases - up from four.

Others and the previous day's report:

Dekalb  15 (9)

Cherokee 7 (6)

Dougherty 6

Fayette 5

Clayton 4 (2)

Lowndes 4 (2)

Coweta 2

Clark 3 (2)

Coweta 3 (2)

Lowndes 2

Lee 2

Gordon 2

Troup 2 (0)

Henry 2 (1)

Forsyth 1 

Polk 1

Hall 1 

Barrow 1 (0)

Charlton 1

Columbia 1 (0)

Rockdale 1 (0)

Newton 1

Paulding 1

Richmond 1 (0)

Click here to view an announcement by Rep. Colton Moore.

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