Georgia reported more than 1,500 new cases on Monday, including 18 deaths. The state has seen more than 97,000 cases and nearly 3,000 deaths since the outbreak began, according to the state’s Health Department.
On 1 July, the state reported 3,000 new infections, breaking a single-day record.
There is no statewide mandate for Georgia residents to wear a mask, though several city officials have issued orders for residents to do so. Mayor Bottoms has not mandated face coverings for her city, which has more than 500,000 people. Atlanta’s metro area encompasses 6 million residents.
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, whose city is recovering from several shootings over a violent holiday weekend, has tested positive for coronavirus, she announced on Monday.
“Covid-19 has literally hit home,” she said on Twitter. “I have had NO symptoms and have tested positive.”
Moments later, she told MSNBC that her husband Derek Bottoms, who has experienced some symptoms, also tested positive. Though they were tested two weeks ago, his recent fatigue prompted the family to get tested again.
“I’m processing this, I just received my results,” she told MSNBC. “I’m really at a loss for words. It really speaks to how contagious this virus is. We’ve take all of the precautions you can possibly take … I have no idea when and where we were exposed.”
US infections have hit record daily highs for nearly a month, as states begin rolling back “reopenings” amid the pandemic that has killed more than 130,000 Americans and infected nearly 3 million people in the US, according to Johns Hopkins University.
“We are still knee-deep in the first wave of this,” Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said during a Monday livestream on social media. ”This would not be considered a wave. It was a surge or a resurgence of infections superimposed upon a baseline … that really never got down to where we wanted to go.”
Mayor Bottoms is among several women — including California Senator Kamala Harris and Florida congresswoman Val Demings — who have been eyed by Joe Biden‘s presidential campaign as a potential running mate.
She was elected mayor in 2017 after serving on Atlanta’s City Council.
The city saw one of its most violent stretches over the Independence Day holiday weekend during which 30 people were injured and five people — including an 8-year-old girl — were killed in several shootings, prompting Governor Brian Kemp to declare a state of emergency on Monday.
