Effective at midnight Sunday and, for now, until noon April 7, bars, barbershops, salons and gyms in Statesboro must close, Statesboro’s restaurants are limited to curbside, takeout, delivery and drive-thru service, and many types of gatherings of 10 or more people are prohibited.

These restrictions are all in a new executive order issued Sunday by Mayor Jonathan McCollar in the presence of City Council.

All five council members were present for the 2 p.m. emergency meeting, but no votes were taken. The council had unanimously approved an ordinance the previous Tuesday granting the mayor new emergency powers. McCollar then first declared a COVID-19 pandemic state of emergency Thursday evening accompanied by recommendations to restaurants and other businesses and advising against gatherings.

Now mandatory

Sunday’s new order makes those recommendations mandatory, with violations punishable as misdemeanors. But it does not go as far as a “shelter in place” order, which more than 30 Statesboro physicians had requested in a letter to local government officials.

“We want to acknowledge the fact that we have had correspondence from a group of physicians here in the city of Statesboro, and we want to make sure that everyone knows that the decisions that we are making are based on fact and not opinion,” McCollar said as the meeting began. “The main purpose of every action that is being taken is to ensure the life of every individual within our community.

“We want to make sure that everyone understands that COVID-19 is a very serious matter,” he continued. “It is a very deadly matter, and it is a very contagious situation. If there was another way to work around the issues that we are facing within our community, we would do so, but at this point right now we’re taking every precaution necessary to save lives within our community.”

Prohibited gatherings

The order he signed states, in part: “Public or private gatherings of more than ten (10) persons are prohibited anywhere in City of Statesboro for the duration of this Executive Order. For the purposes of this Order, a "gathering" is any indoor or outdoor event or convening, subject to the exceptions and clarifications below.”

Specifically prohibited gatherings include those “in a single room or other single confined or enclosed space, such as an auditorium, stadium … tent, arena, event center, music venue, meeting hall, conference center, restaurants, cafeteria, church, or any other confined indoor or confined outdoor space” including “birthday parties, family reunions, baby showers and weddings.”

Funerals are allowed only outdoors and at graveside, and “shall adhere to CDC” (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) distancing recommendations.

Exempted, and therefore not subject to the current prohibitions on gatherings, are those for ordinary business in offices, government facilities, schools, child-care centers, residential buildings, hospitals and other medical facilities, grocery stores, shopping centers, malls and other retail establishments, the order goes on to state.

Restaurant rules

It also states that restaurants operating in compliance with “Section B,” the part of the order specifically having to do with restaurants, are exempt from the general prohibition.

Section B states: “Restaurants shall only offer curbside, take out, delivery, and drive through service options. Restaurants remaining open for business shall operate in a manner that allows for a minimum of six feet of separation between all customers and employees. Any bar not serving food shall close for business.”

The “six feet of separation” here refers to people arriving to pick up food, such as at a counter, and does not provide any leeway for sit-down service, city officials said.

In Section B, the signed version adds: “Restaurants shall be authorized to sell and deliver sealed containers of beer and wine for off premises consumption.” This was not in the earliest version of the proposed order that council members received, but it was in one seen at the beginning of the meeting.

Other types of businesses, addressed in Section C, appear to have no alternative but to close. It states: “Hair salons, barbers, nail salons, spas, tattoo parlors, and indoor recreational facilities, including gyms, physical fitness centers, and dance studios, shall be closed for the term of this Executive Order.”

As originally drafted, the term of the order would have been the same 30 days as in the mayor’s Thursday emergency declaration.

But after District 1 Councilman Phil Boyum said he thought this was too much too soon, McCollar said, “Nobody up here is saying 30 days.”

The final version, as edited by City Attorney Cain Smith and signed by the mayor, states that the order remains in force until noon April 7 or until a subsequent order is issued. Council is slated to meet that morning.

Doctors request bold action

However, the 33 doctors who signed the letter to local officials requested more, now. While acknowledging that no COVID-19 cases had been confirmed in Bulloch County yet, they wrote, “It is not a question of IF, but WHEN.”

Noting, among other worrisome facts, that East Georgia Regional Medical Center has only 24 critical care beds, the doctors stated that only bold action could prevent the pandemic from completely overwhelming the local healthcare infrastructure.

The doctors implored the city of Statesboro and other local officials to put in place “a shelter in place order effective immediately, or as soon as is feasibly possible.” The letter had “shelter in place” underlined, and the entire sentence was in bold type.

“We understand that there will be unintended consequences of these drastic measures, but the alternative is worse,” the doctors stated. “If we cannot slow down the rate of infection immediately, our health care system will be overwhelmed. This is what we mean when we say to ‘flatten the curve.’”





Letter from doctors

The following is a letter 33 local physicians listed below sent to the Statesboro City Council.

Dear local and state officials:

We are physicians who serve Statesboro and the surrounding communities. Collectively we are acting to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic as it enters our community. This letter and our signatures represent our individual professional opinions regarding swift and bold action that must occur to curb the potentially-devastating impact on our hospitals, our patients, the city of Statesboro, and the state of Georgia.

It is inevitable that the virus enters our community, as neighboring cities and counties are beginning to report positive results of the COVID-19 test. It is not a question of IF, but WHEN. As are many communities and hospitals across the country, we are woefully underprepared for the number of people who will need treatment when it comes to availability of ICU beds, ventilators, personal protective equipment. Our only action then is to make choices which may slow the spread of the virus, so that we have a chance to not completely overwhelm our healthcare infrastructure to the point where rationing lifesaving measures becomes a reality.

As such we implore you to put a shelter in place order effective immediately, or as soon as is feasibly possible.

We understand that there will be unintended consequences of these drastic measures, but the alternative is worse. If we cannot slow down the rate of infection immediately, our health care system will be overwhelmed. This is what we mean when we say to “flatten the curve.”

We applaud your sophisticated understanding of this disease and its spread. As you and your public health advisors likely already know, COVID-19 is contracted through respiratory droplets (sneezes, cough, just breathing, on hands/surfaces) and should be considered highly contagious. While the majority of patients (>80%) will recover without the need to be in the hospital, up to 10% will be so ill they need to be admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU). The death rate is much higher than with seasonal influenza, particularly for people with certain medical problems. The death rate is also significantly higher for patients over age 60 and possibly over 20% for those over the age of 80.

The recommended measures of personal hand hygiene, avoiding touching your face, and aggressive social distancing are burdensome but are the best measures to reduce the number of people getting sick. Just as important, these measures will reduce the speed with which the virus spreads. If we can reduce the number of cases but also double or triple the time over which those cases happen, the healthcare system will be less likely to be overwhelmed by the demand; this is “flattening the curve.”

East Georgia Regional Medical Center (EGRMC) has a total of 24 critical care beds. You can imagine how quickly these will fill if our community becomes sick all at once. Slowing the spread or “flattening the curve” will undoubtedly save lives.

The timing and scope of these additional measures are difficult considerations. It is possible that any measures at this time could be deemed either overly aggressive or too late. With that in mind, we advocate for steps that may be deemed overly aggressive, as this is preferred in matters of community safety. We commend you and city leaders for the aggressive actions you have taken to date, such as closing our public schools and also canceling any large official gatherings to lower the likelihood of community spread.

The hours and days ahead will be critical to mitigating community spread. While recommendations for hand hygiene and social distancing are spot on, their voluntary implementation in our community are clearly challenging and not optimally effective given the exponential growth in COVID-19 cases in numerous communities across the country despite widely-publicized recommendations for social distancing.

We know these are difficult steps, and we are hesitant to have to recommend them. We as a state may face short-term economic set-backs as a result, but the long-term economic consequences of not acting now are greater. The big-picture perspective is necessary.

We also want to acknowledge that this virus tends to be surprisingly mild and well-tolerated in most kids, healthy young adults, and middle-aged adults. This makes it really tempting to say it isn't a big deal, most people get this virus. Although they may not be severely affected by the virus, young, healthy people must practice social distancing. In South Korea, where significantly-more testing has been done, 20-29 year-olds represented 30% of those infected. Individuals in this age group can have relatively mild symptoms but still spread the COVID-19 virus. If infected, older family members, friends, or other vulnerable community members may be hospitalized or die with this virus, particularly if there are shortages of medical care.

Hindsight will not look kindly on actions that are taken too late here. Moreover, as health professionals, we know that the weeks to come are already at risk of overwhelming our fragile healthcare system. Please help us so we can help our community face this crisis.

Thank you for your consideration of our perspective. We would be happy to discuss further if you have questions or concerns. Likewise, we would be happy to provide resources and guidance to you.

Best regards,

Chelsea Mikell, MD

Obstetrics and Gynecology

Ogeechee OB/GYN

Scott Mikell, MD

Family Medicine and Geriatric Medicine

Statesboro Family Practice

Ian Munger, MD

Emergency Medicine

East Georgia Regional Medical Center

Sreelu Dega, MD

Urgent care Physician

Mednow / Northside Hospitals - Augusta / Atlanta

Ruthie Crider, MD

Emergency Medicine

East Georgia Regional Medical Center

Hugh James, MD

Anesthesiology

Anesthesia Management Associates

Albert Lee, MD

Anesthesiology

James Hiller, MD

Obstetrics and Gynecology

Southern OB/GYN

Ajay Jain, MD

Cardiology

Cardiovascular Associates of Eastern Georgia

Rani Reddy, MD

Internal Medicine

Candler Internal Medicine

Brian Moogerfeld, MD

Internal Medicine

Moogerfeld Internal Medicine

Maria Moogerfeld, MD

Internal Medicine

Moogerfeld Internal Medicine

Angela Davis, MD

Family Medicine

Family Health Care Center

Anna Benson, MD

Pediatrics

Mama Doc Pediatrics

Al Palmer, MD

Obstetrics and Gynecology

East Georgia Women’s Center

Benjamin Oldham, MD

Obstetrics and Gynecology

Ogeechee OB/GYN

Gary Sullivan, MD

Obstetrics and Gynecology

Statesboro OB/GYN Specialists

Glen J Dasher, MD

Family Medicine

Southern Family Medicine

Luke Krautter, MD

Family Medicine

Southern Family Medicine

Matt Phillips, MD

Family Medicine

Southern Family Medicine

Carla Branch, MD

Family Medicine

Statesboro Family Practice

Mark McCracken, MD

Hospitalist

East Georgia Regional Medical Center

Randy Smith, MD

Family Medicine

Statesboro Family Practice

Thomas J Miller, MD

Family Medicine

Southern Family Medicine-Claxton

Uday K Tata, MD

Internal Medicine

Hospitalist

East Georgia Regional Medical Center

Kevin Purvis, MD

Family Medicine

Statesboro Family Practice

Wayne R Bryan, MD

Hospitalist

EGRMC

Kashyap Patel, MD

Neurologist

EGRMC

Justin Rountree, MD

Anesthesia/Pain Management

East Georgia Regional Medical Center

Pediatrician

Cheryl E Perkins MD

Pediatrician

Michael Taormina MD

Neurologist

Anthony Chappell MD

Cardiologist





City Hall closed Monday for COVID-19 scrubdown



City Hall will be closed to in-person visits from the public on Monday, March 23, for extensive cleaning and sanitizing, city officials announced. This is part of the city's efforts to prevent the spread of coronavirus and set an example.

City Hall offices and departments will operating during this time and can be reached at (912)764-5468 for business transactions. Officials plan to reopen City Hall to the public Tuesday but encourage customers to conduct business by phone or online when possible.