Georgia’s Republican governor issued an executive order Thursday that bans cities from requiring businesses to enforce local restrictions aimed at curbing the coronavirus pandemic, but what impact, if any, the measure would have on new mask requirements in Atlanta, Savannah and other cities was not clear.
At a news conference announcing the order, Gov. Brian Kemp said some people in the state want to go back into “lockdown mode” and close businesses. He said his order will prevent local governments from forcing businesses to be the city’s “mask police, the vaccine police.”
It came amid an explosion of new virus cases around the state that is straining hospitals.
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