Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp held a televised news conference Wednesday afternoon to issue a statewide shelter-in-place order to curve the new coronavirus.

The governor said he would sign the order on Thursday, and it will go into effect on Friday. Also, Kemp ordered that all public schools remain closed for the rest of the academic school year.

Georgia has a confirmed 4,638 COVID-19 cases with about 140 deaths, according to the Department of Public Health. Kemp said the research has shown that Georgia will reach maximum capacity in about three weeks.

Fulton County leads all Georgia counties with over 600 cases. Dougherty County has the most deaths in the state with 27. Of the confirmed cases, about 20 percent are hospitalized or have been hospitalized over the period of COVID-19.

There are a handful of counties that have no confirmed deaths.

The Georgia Municipal Association last week encouraged all 538 cities in Georgia to adopt some form of emergency order to help curve the spread of the virus.

Beginning Thursday morning, Kemp said he will work with Dr. Kathleen Toomey, the director of the Department of Public Health, to work out the details of the order.

Written by Prince Robinson Jr., Managing Editor. Photo courtesy of  The Spectator.