Georgia out of COVID-19 red zone for 1st time in months, new White House report shows

ATLANTA — Georgia is out of the danger zone, according to a new White House report.

It comes as Georgia hits 315,000 cases of COVID-19 in the state.

All summer the weekly report was showing Georgia with some of the country’s most concerning COVID-19 numbers. But this week, the report tells a different story. Both the state of Georgia and metro Atlanta are moving in the right direction.

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Channel 2′s Justin Gray obtained a copy of the Sept. 27 report that shows Georgia now in the safer orange zone with under 100 cases per 100,000 people -- and even better for test positivity, in the yellow zone.

Infectious disease doctor Rodger MacArthur from the Augusta University Medical Center says the key is that this is not just a one week blip.

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“We’ve been going down now for 10 weeks or more. It was very scary for a while because we were going up for 10 weeks but now we’re going down I think we’re on the other side of the mountain,” he said.

When Channel 2 Action News first obtained a copy of the White House weekly report back in July, Georgia ranked as one of the nation’s most dangerous COVID-19 hotspots.

But now the report says, “Georgia is making progress and, to sustain the gains, must continue the strong mitigation efforts statewide and continue mitigation efforts in university towns.”

That means continuing social distancing and mask wearing, according to MacArthur.

“It’s not the time to take the foot off the gas, It’s not the time to relax,” he said.

Gov. Brian Kemp told Gray in a statement, “Georgia continues to see positive momentum in Governor Kemp’s measured, data-driven approach to protecting lives and livelihoods against COVID-19.”

The key thing, according to the governor’s office, is not to take this as a sign to let up.

While the number of cases is down in Georgia, Vice President Mike Pence warned that national infection rates are on the rise.

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