Georgia Governor Removes Most Pandemic Restrictions

In his most recent executive order, Georgia’s Gov. Kemp rolled back most of the COVID-19 restrictions in the state. Except for areas of high transmission, the state no longer requires masks, social distancing, or other precautions in schools, childcare centers, or other youth organizations. Furthermore, local governments not dealing with high transmission rates cannot adopt stricter rules. There is one important exception allowing local governments to adopt different rules for property that they own, lease, or control. 

Likewise, private businesses remain free to continue whatever precautions they wish to follow. Indeed, other standards may require some continued restrictions. OSHA, for example, continues to lag behind even the CDC, and recommends masks masks for all employees. Similarly, the CDC continues to recommend masks for children indoors. The latest update to the COVID-19 Resource Library, on the other hand, contains new research showing that children are safe with fewer restrictions than we realized.

If you operate a youth serving organization, then, you have a variety of standards to choose from. There is no restriction, other than  agreement from your parents, on your choosing a more cautious option. Similarly, you can choose a more open model limited only by current OSHA guidance for employees.  If you choose a less restrictive protocol, however, we do recommend that you be very clear with parents about your plans and get their agreement in the form of a waiver and release. The current science shows tremendous progress in battling the coronavirus. We can be cautiously optimistic about our ability to serve children this summer while requiring fewer sacrifices from them.