Georgia Coronavirus Updates: Overflow Hospital Beds Constructed Ahead Of Expected Peak

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A 200 bed hospital is under construction in part of the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta.

The state is making additional hospital beds available across the state to handle the potential overflow from over-capacity hospitals as officials still estimate the peak of the coronavirus is two weeks out.

Gov. Brian Kemp will provide the latest information at a coronavirus press conference at 4 p.m. today.

As of 7 p.m. Monday, April 13, there are at least 13,621 reported COVID-19 cases in Georgia, and about 20% of those have resulted in hospitalizations. At least 480 people, or 3.5% of those people with confirmed cases, have died.

Here is the latest coronavirus news from Georgia for Monday, April 13, 2020.

GWCC, other locations prepped as emergency hospital facilities

A 200-bed hospital is under construction in a part of the Atlanta’s Georgia World Congress Center, a massive building that has housed everything from trade shows to a campaign event for President Trump.

Gov. Brian Kemp’s office announced Sunday via a press release the state will contract with PAE to add 200 beds.

“Across Georgia, we have partnered with existing healthcare infrastructure to greatly expand our surge capacity, and now we have a dedicated team building out a temporary facility at the Georgia World Congress Center for potential COVID-19 patient surge,” Kemp said.

The Georgia National Guard, Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency, Department of Community Health, Department of Public Health, and contractors will begin work immediately on the facility that will care for patients with COVID-19 who may require hospitalization but not care in the intensive care unit or use of a ventilator.

The facility will receive the support of nearby Grady Hospital and should be operational within a week.

State officials are also scouting the Savannah Convention Center and an unspecified location in Macon, according to documents obtained by the AJC,

The latest projections from the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation show Georgia could reach the peak infection, death rate and hospital bed need in two weeks.

Worker at governor's mansion tests positive

A worker at the governor’s mansion in Buckhead recently tested positive for COVID-19, which sent everyone who had contact with the staffer into quarantine, the AJC reports. That staffer had no contact with Kemp or his family.

UPDATED MAP: Track Coronavirus By Population Across Georgia

Gwinnett, Cobb counties shift to four-day school weeks

In two metro Atlanta school districts, students will finish the academic year with four days of online learning. Classes will be held Monday through Thursday with Fridays used as a catch-up day in Cobb and Gwinnett schools. The school year is scheduled to end May 20.

IRS launches new app for stimulus money

The IRS will launch an app this week for people to connect with and track their stimulus payments from the $2.2 trillion deal signed by President Donald Trump late last month, U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin said Friday.

The Georgia Department of Labor will also begin distributing federal unemployment funds according to the CARES Act (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security).

A weekly $600 supplement will be sent to any individual eligible for any portion of the Unemployment Compensation programs – state and federal. The GDOL will begin sending this additional payment to those currently receiving state unemployment benefits beginning next week. This supplement will be an additional payment to regular weekly state unemployment benefits and will include all eligible weeks beginning with the week ending April 4.

The supplement amount is contingent upon any deductions required by the state or federal government.

Unemployment claims soar

Nearly 400,000 unemployment claims were processed from March 29 to April 4 as the economic slowdown seen elsewhere in the U.S. begins to hit Georgia.

That number of claims tripled from the previous week, which saw 133,820 claims processed, Georgia Labor Commissioner Mark Butler said.

“Thanks to the governor and his support of this agency, we have been able to automate much of this process by requiring employers to file on behalf of their employees, making this process much easier for Georgians to receive benefits.”

During the worst year of the Great Recession, the DOL processed about a million claims in the entire year. In the last two weeks, more than half a million have been processed.

A majority of the claims came from those in the hospitality and food service industry.

Nationwide, more than 17 million Americans have filed for unemployment in the last three weeks.

Primary election delayed to June 9

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger postponed Georgia’s presidential primary and general primary election to June 9, delaying the vote by three weeks amid concerns over safety at the polls. Saturday, Kemp signed an executive order calling for a special election to replace the late state Sen. Jack Hill in Senate District 4.

MORE: Senate Appropriations Chairman Jack Hill Dies At 75

The extension of Georgia’s public health emergency to May 13 gave him the legal authority to move the vote, as well as several reports of challenges local officials were facing trying to prepare for an election in a pandemic.

A GPB News/Georgia News Lab survey of more than 80 of the state’s election directors last week found them grappling with a potential shortage of poll workers, voting location closures and difficulty implementing social distancing at the polls.

“Looking at the situation on the ground, county elections officials were still having major issues with the ability to staff their precincts with poll workers, and we felt that moving out the elections three weeks will give them additional time,” Raffensperger said. “We understand it will still be a challenge, but it’s something that’s a hard and fast date.”

MORE: Georgia Elections Officials Prep for ‘Unprecedented’ Primary As Coronavirus Looms

Deadlines for an election cycle run several months, so June 9 is the latest date the primary can be held because of the Nov. 3, 2020 general election, he said.