Date: March 26
Hello Ball Ground:
The following is a message from Mayor Roberts.

“This morning, with the approval of the City Council, I have declared a State of Emergency in Ball Ground in response to the escalating health risks from Covid-19 and have issued a Shelter in Place Order. It will begin at midnight tonight and initially be in effect for 14 days.

Seeing the exponential rise of COVID-19 cases in Georgia has made me and the council very concerned about the health risks and safety of people in our community. This Shelter in Place action being taken by the City concurrently with the County and other cities in the County, as well as other nearby counties, will hopefully be effective in lowering the number of coronavirus cases and save lives in our region. I believe this Shelter in Place Emergency Order to request and encourage people to stay at home is the right thing to do.

So exactly what is a Shelter in Place Order? It is really more of a “Stay at Home” order. For many of you this means no change. So many of you have already taken the appropriate steps. Simply stay home unless you need to leave your home for work or essential services.

What are essential services? Medical treatment, pharmacy needs, gas, to provide care for or check on family or care givers, Auto Repair etc. (and to go to work in support of essential/exempt businesses)

What businesses are non-essential? Unfortunately we do have some valuable businesses in Ball Ground that will be forced to close for the near term because they cannot provide their services while maintaining the 6 foot distancing mandate, or ensure proper cleaning of equipment between users.

What about restaurants? Restaurants may remain open, but for take away only. Curb side or drive thru services are permitted but no indoor or patio dining.

Fortunately most of our businesses will be allowed to remain open if they choose. Even businesses that are non-essential are allowed to continue operating IF AND ONLY IF they keep their numbers below 10, including employees and maintain the 6 foot distance requirements between all customers/employees etc.

Essential Businesses will also be provided with challenges though, as they will be expected to maintain 6 foot distancing requirements and to monitor compliance. This will certainly be a challenge for essential businesses such as the Pharmacy and the Dollar General as they attempt to manage customers in the checkout line and call for the 6 foot separation.

Much of this though falls directly on you, our residents, to be mindful of the 6 foot distancing when obtaining essential services and when working. The overwhelming majority of you have already done exactly what needs to be done and this is essential for flattening the curve and prevent overburdening our medical system.

We understand there will be many questions. As always please feel free to respond to this email and City Manager Eric Wilmarth will do his best to get you the answers you need.

In the end this comes done to applying commons sense. Something Ball Ground residents have plenty of. I am confident that each of you will continue to do what is best for you, your family and our community.

Take care, and I know it is getting old……but wash your hands, clean those frequently touched surfaces, and don’t touch your face/eyes, and practice physical distancing. We can still be social!

The full ordinance will be uploaded on our website later today.
Mayor Roberts

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Hello Ball Ground:

Mayor Roberts participated in another conference call this morning with Dr. Del Rio, an infectious disease expert with Emory and Grady. To be certain there wasn’t a lot of positive information, with the soul except that he stated he has never seen such a rapid scientific response on work dealing with any previous virus and vaccine development. Still no solutions but rapid progress.

Dr Del Rio also concurs with local news reports, asking individuals that are exhibiting only mild symptoms to self isolate and treat at home. The healthcare system currently has a major shortage of not only tests, but the personal protective equipment needed when completing the tests. If your symptoms progress then by all means call your healthcare provider and set up a plan for testing. Remember, the overwhelming majority of cases are minor. He is hopeful that this guidance will change by Friday, and that tests and protective equipment will be in solid supply and we can then move towards testing everyone in order to further identify carriers and get them properly isolated.

Locally, several of our restaurants have closed their indoor dining but are still offering curb-side to go services, or even home delivery. Please take advantage of this.

Mayor Roberts is urging all residents to avoid social gatherings and to practice physical distancing, even from people you know. Stay in touch socially via you favorite media outlet…….but avoid physically getting together.

This evening at 5:00 PM Governor Kemp will hold a press conference. We are expecting that he will be delivering some statewide guidelines and updates and we look forward to hearing what he has to say.

On a final thought. We are asking everyone to take a little extra precaution in your daily routines. Drive slower. Use extra precautions in all physical activities. One of the things we haven’t talked about much is the fact that our local hospitals already stay pretty busy with car accidents and other injuries from simple at home accidents. The hospital ER is just not the place to be right now. Not only does our presence there consume services, but it also exposes us to probably the most dangerous place to contact the virus at this time. Use Caution. Physical Distancing. Wash Hands. Stay safe.

Another rainy day in Georgia – but Wednesday provides some promise for some sunshine. We need it.

Take good care.

Eric

Hello Ball Ground:

Numbers change by the hour, so likely by the time you read this, these numbers will already be outdated. Regardless:
Currently 600 cases in Georgia with 23 deaths. 17 of the cases are right here in Cherokee County. Next door in Pickens County a young lady, well under the age of 30 is in ICU and is in a battle for life. 11 cases are connected to one SINGLE GATHERING in the City of Carrolton.

This is no longer a virus that is just impacting we older adults, but now a full 40% of those hospitalized with the virus are between age 20 and 54.

It is time we begin listening in regards to social distancing. It is imperative that we maintain our distances. It is really the last resort in fighting this disease. We are strongly encouraging our residents to take advantage of our wonderful take out service from Ball Ground restaurants. Mayor Roberts has issued an Executive Order allowing licenses restaurants to sell beer/wine to go (sealed), to make your to-go meals more convenient.

Initially, we had simply closed the City indoor facilities where people gather in large numbers. That was expanded to playground equipment because of the duration that plastic surfaces can hold the virus. However, we were then forced to close the outdoor basketball courts because we had crowds of 25-30 people from as far away as New York, gathering in large groups to play a close-contact sport. Senseless.

One of the large problems in slowing the spread is that we have so many carriers that are asymptomatic – they never even know they are sick. In the mean time they are spreading the virus unknowingly, and potentially even fatally to persons that just don’t handle the virus as well, or already have a compromised system.

As we move forward, please, take this seriously. Trips to the grocery store, convenience store, etc., are all essential. But in doing so simply keep your distance. If you are doing the elbow bump you are too close. When in line at the checkout … take a few steps back. And wash, wash wash your hands.

Changes at the City:
In addition to social distancing we are now practicing total separation. We have teams that are working from home and teams that work from the City. We are still able to handle everyone’s needs, we are just doing so by telephone, email or conference call and have eliminated face to face meetings.

Business Recommendations:
Support our local businesses. Just please do so thru take out services, on line services, curb side services etc. For our businesses, if necessary, please check out the website for the small business administration – some assistance is available there for Georgia businesses.

Mayor Roberts is urging our restaurant owners, that while dine-in is still allowed, please separate your dine-in guests as much as possible and to minimize the number of customers allowed to be seated.. Even outside dining should insure table separation or the improved social distancing and safety of customers.

Finally:
Remember that if you or a loved one are exhibiting symptoms please contact your health care provider or emergency room BEFORE you just show up.
Together we can get through this but social distancing is a MUST.

Stay safe.
Eric

FEMA Rumor Control
Georgia Department of Public Health
Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Georgia Department of Education

COVID-19 Hotline: 844.442.2681

First we would like to thank all of our residents for the outstanding cooperation we are seeing at all levels.

Mayor Roberts participated in a conference call yesterday with Governor Kemp. Most of you have probably heard this information on the local news – but for those that haven’t we are passing on the information

First and foremost. If you are ill, and believe you COULD have the coronavirus it is very important that you call you medical provider before you show up at the office. Same with the ER. Call the hospital first and get specific instructions as the medical facility will want to bring you in separate from other patients.

Secondly, we just simply weren’t prepared for the amount of testing that needs to be done and the Feds are reportedly working to get more test kits and improve the distribution methods. In the meantime, some tests have become available thru the private sector. Two issues here. Many of the private testing sites are simply scams – not real tests at all. The second issue is that although some are valid they are doing some price gouging. However; it is certainly a personal choice but the Governors office is recommending that if you want to pay the prices for a private test please contact the health department and find out if the site is legitimate first.

The COVID hotline number for the state is 1-844-442-2681.
Be prepared for a significant wait when calling, but you can get more information from this number and guidance if you believe you need to be tested.

The State is working with FEMA with the goal of establishing a testing center in all 18 “health districts” in the State. Tentatively they have selected Woodstock as a possible test site. They anticipate these sites will be up in 7-10 days.

Social distancing is the best practice for the time being to slow the spread of this virus, however; the Governor stopped short of enacting an order to shut down bars and restaurants, instead asking these businesses to self regulate and keep their crowd sizes in check. While we must practice social distancing Mayor Roberts strongly agrees with Governor Kemp in the need to support our local businesses. Our business owners are coming up with creative ways to continue operations. For some this is offering curbside service, home deliver, take out services etc., Give your favorite Ball Ground business (or two) a call and see if there is something in place that meets your needs, whether it is a new delivery service, or simply the ability to remain in your car and have something brought out to you.

Additionally the Governor announced a blood shortage. He said the Red Cross has instituted safe measures for blood donation and is encouraging residents to reach out to the Red Cross and give blood when possible and practical.

The State of Georgia is now approved thru the Small Business Administration so that our small businesses can get some financial assistance as we pass thru these. The website they have referred small businesses to is www.sba.gov/disaster

Another major area of impact. Rumors. We seem to experience of lot of this especially in this era of social media. Mayor Roberts urges all of our residents to fact check, gather information from reliable news sources, the CDC and the GEMA and FEMA websites.

In the mean-time … stay safe and look after one another.

Eric Wilmarth
City Manager