WABE’s Week In Review: Kemp defends the state’s COVID response and school masks spark lawsuits

Alex Helmick | WABE

October 1st, 2021

More than half of all Georgia public school students are now required to wear masks in class, according to the Associated Press. That compares to just a handful of districts that mandated masks before school began in August, the AP says.

Several metro Atlanta districts dropped their mask mandates over the summer when it seemed the worst of COVID might be over. Then the Delta variant came along. Districts like Atlanta, Gwinnett, Clayton and DeKalb reinstated mask requirements.

Kemp on COVID… 

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp gets vaccinated on March 26, 2021. CREDIT COURTESY OF BRIAN KEMP

“Every family, every Georgian has been affected, obviously by COVID, the devastating effects it’s had,” said Georgia’s 83rd governor on Wednesday’s edition of “Closer Look.”

Kemp talked candidly with program host Rose Scott about the state’s ongoing response amid the deadly health crisis and the path forward to reaching herd immunity.

The model pandemic… 

CREDIT: EMILY ELCONIN/ GETTY

The COVID-19 pandemic is slowing down in the United States, and a key set of models say it could continue to do so,  according to epidemiologist Cecile Viboud with the National Institutes of Health.

Trying to make it safer for all… 

Since June, Atlanta has been experimenting with a new configuration on Peachtree Street downtown, between Ellis and Baker streets. CREDIT EMIL MOFFATT/WABE NEWS

Atlanta is experimenting with street designs that are more friendly to pedestrians and bicyclists. But a test on a three-block section of Peachtree Street in downtown is getting mixed reviews.

Rodents ready to rave… 

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