Mayor & Commission Approves Athens CARES Funding of $5.29 Million for Community

At a Special Called Session on August 11, 2020, the Athens-Clarke County Mayor and Commission approved a resolution to authorize the execution of the Coronavirus Relief Fund terms and conditions agreement and, among other things, disbursement of $5.29 million in funds for a specific variety of community services through December 30, 2020.

The reimbursement funds come from the United States government, which has made available grant funding through the Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) to the State of Georgia to share CRF allocations and disbursements with local governments across Georgia.

A general breakdown of the funding approved for the community includes:

• Financial Assistance / Food / Housing / Communications Access - $1.86 million
• Economic Development - $2.11 million
• Health Allocations - $603,000
• Public Information - $27,521
• Transit - $150,000
• IT Internet Access - 543,339
• Total Community - $5.29 million

COVID-19 Response Update Presentation

Manager Blaine Williams provided an update to the Mayor and Commission at their August 11, 2020 Work Session on some of the ACCGov responses to the pandemic since March 2020. A PDF of the presentation is now available online.

Fifth Order Extending Declaration of Statewide Judicial Emergency Until September 10 

On August 11, 2020 Chief Justice Harold D. Melton of the Georgia Supreme Court extended a statewide judicial emergency through September 10, 2020.

The courts in Athens-Clarke County and the Western Judicial Circuit will continue to scale back court-related operations through September 10.

Among other things, the order continues to prohibit jury trial proceedings and most
Grand Jury proceedings. All courts are encouraged to continue to use and increase the use of technology to conduct remote judicial proceedings as a safer alternative to in-person proceedings. Some Athens-Clarke County courts, including Municipal Court and Superior Court (Chief Judge Eric Norris), have links to live videos of court proceedings on their websites when proceedings are occurring.

More information and the full order are available at www.accgov.com/coronavirus (direct link: www.accgov.com/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=4146).

2,166 Positive Cases Confirmed in Athens-Clarke County, 19 Deaths

The state Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) case tracker (https://dph.georgia.gov/covid-19-daily-status-report) confirms 2,166 positive cases of COVID-19 in Athens-Clarke County and 19 deaths as of 2:50 p.m. on August 13.

These are cumulative cases total since February 25, 2020. For reference, numbers from the beginning of each month:

• August 1 - 1,694
• July 1 - 574
• June 1 - 293
• May 1 - 155
• April 1 - 54
• March 1 - 4

The Daily Status Report is now updated once daily at 3:00 p.m. to allow time to process and validate laboratory and case reports. If you view the data, please be sure to check the area showing the definitions of the information presented. Some, such as "hospitalizations," have different meanings than what may be expected.

Eleven deaths occurred at a long-term care facility during March and April. For a daily report on long-term health care facilities in the state, visit the Georgia Department of Community Health’s website at dch.georgia.gov.

Older adults and people who have severe underlying medical conditions such as heart or lung disease or diabetes are at higher risk for developing more serious complications from COVID-19 and should always consult their healthcare provider if they are sick.