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His orders barred local governments from enacting any coronavirus restrictions beyond his orders and he called the local mask mandates “legally unenforceable.” Local officials and Democrats had argued cities and counties had the power to move ahead because Kemp hadn’t specifically banned mask orders. Most recover, but some can become severely ill or die. For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms. Georgia overall had nearly 128,000 confirmed infections and nearly 3,100 deaths overall as of Wednesday, although experts say many more people get the illness but are never tested. The state reports 84% of hospitals’ available critical beds are in use, although some hospitals say they have opened up more space and have more room. Wednesday’s numbers showed nearly 2,800 people hospitalized statewide with the COVID-19 respiratory illness, the highest on record and a number that’s nearly doubled since the beginning of the month. Kemp was among the first governors to ease earlier restrictions, and while infections declined for weeks afterwards, they began to rise in June. Kemp’s new order also bans local governments from requiring masks on public property, which void requirements that some governments have imposed for citizens to wear masks inside city and county buildings. Ignore the science and survive the best you can.” “Every man and woman for himself/herself. Governor Kemp does not give a damn about us,” Johnson wrote on Twitter Wednesday night. Savannah Mayor Van Johnson was the first local official to defy Kemp and order masks, and had said police would start writing $500 citations to businesses that didn’t enforce the law. Overall, mask orders by Wednesday were covering 1.4 million of Georgia’s more than 10 million residents. Kemp’s move is likely to infuriate local officials in communities that had acted, including Atlanta, Augusta, Savannah, Rome and the governor’s hometown of Athens-Clarke County. The Republican governor has instead been trying to encourage voluntary mask wearing, including telling fans that reduced infections from mask-wearing would make college football season possible.