Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp announced today that movie theaters, subject to special social distancing and sanitation mandates, are allowed to reopen next Monday April 27. Per CNN, Georgia is ranked 11th in the nation in regards to its coronavirus cases which number 18,9K in addition to 733 deaths. There is a debate among federal, state and local governments about how to re-open the nation’s economy as cases continue to spike nationwide.

“We’ll get Georgians back to work safely,” said Kemp who announced a three-phase approach today at a briefing at the state Capitol today with “the shelter in place” order lifting on April 30. It’s one of exercised caution per Kemp and not one which should be perceived as business as usual.

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On Saturday, Kemp permitted drive-in theaters to remain open, complying with directives.

Theaters will be allowed to reopen with private social clubs and restaurant dine-in services. That said, bars, nightclubs, operators of amusement park rides and live performance venues will remain closed along with schools which will continue to focus on social distance learning. “I will not be going back on that decision” said Kemp about the closing of schools.

Gyms, fitness centers, bowling alleys, beauty shops and salons, barbershops, body art studios, can open this Friday, April 24.

It’s not clear yet which chains will attempt to re-open. Many exhibitors have informed us they’ll likely program catalog titles initially, and will implement enhanced cleaning procedures and auditorium capacity limits.

Kemp said we’re poised to see “a new norm” in the COVID-19 climate and that technology could be on the horizon, specifically “Infrared heat-seeking devices when you walk through a certain establishment”. Movie theaters, among those, could put those into use.

Kemp said that the state plans to “double-down” on testing given the re-opening, and that it meets the current White House criteria to reopen the nation in three phases, the governor’s plan “on track to meet the criteria for Phase One” which includes adequate hospital capacity.

Kemp said that overall COVID-19 cases have “flattened, and appear to be declining.”