Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms criticized Georgia Republican Governor Brian Kemp for prohibiting mask and COVID-19 vaccine mandates statewide for buisnesses, WSB-TV reported on Friday.
Bottoms, a Democrat, said that the order is nothing but politics.
“We’re entering political season, and we’ll see political theatrics,” she said. “But when it comes to this pandemic, that’s not sound decision-making. I can’t begin to make sense of it. I can’t make sense of it last year and I can’t make sense of it this year.”
On Thursday, Kemp signed an executive order banning vaccine and mask mandates for businesses amid a highly transmissible Delta variant.
“The executive order I signed today will make sure businesses across our state can’t be punished by local governments for trying to make a living, pay their employees, and save their livelihoods,” he wrote on Twitter.
The executive order I signed today will make sure businesses across our state can’t be punished by local governments for trying to make a living, pay their employees, and save their livelihoods.
Georgia is open for business!
— Governor Brian P. Kemp (@GovKemp) August 19, 2021
Kemp also said during a press conference Thursday that local governments can’t force these mandates that could potentially drive businesses to shut down, CBS News reported.
“Local governments will not be able to force businesses to be the city’s mask police, the vaccine police, or any other burdensome restriction that will only lead to employees being let go, revenue tanking or businesses closing their doors,” Kemp said.
The governor also tweeted on Thursday that the state will remain open for business as he pledged to protect “hardworking Georgians who are providing for themselves and their families.”
My newest Executive Order protects businesses and hardworking Georgians who are providing for themselves and their families.
Georgia is open for business, and we’ll stay that way. https://t.co/34ufgAol6y
— Brian Kemp (@BrianKempGA) August 20, 2021
Kemp criticized vaccine and mask mandates, adding that people now know how to cope with the pandemic.
“To me all these mandates are dividing people whether it’s masks, vaccine passports, and other things. Everybody is fighting hard to get through COVID,” Kemp said in a clip tweeted on Wednesday. “We have got life-saving vaccines thanks to [former] president Trump that operates and works.”
He noted that people should consult medical professionals or their local pharmacists to figure out the right decisions to make to protect their families against COVID-19.
“They don’t need governments telling them what to do,” he said.
In July, Kemp issued an order banning local officials including cities and counties from imposing mask mandates, but Atlanta kept its mask requirement regardless.
Bottoms issued an order later in July requiring people in Atlanta to wear face coverings in public places to curb the spread of the virus.
On August 13, Ware County school district in southeast Georgia suspended school due to a surge in Delta variant cases. Ware County reported that 76 students who tested positive for the virus attended school during the exposure. There were 679 students who were quarantined out of 5,900 total students and 67 staff members out of 950 tested positive for COVID, while another 150 were under quarantine.
Kemp’s and Bottoms’ offices didn’t immediately respond to Newsweek‘s request for comments.
Photo by ALEX EDELMAN / AFP) (Photo by ALEX EDELMAN/AFP via Getty Images
