Governor Kemp Just Learned that Coronavirus Can be Spread Without Showing Symptoms

At a press conference on Wednesday, Governor Brian Kemp made it clear that he had just recently learned that the novel Coronavirus can be spread asymptomatically.

“This virus is now transmitting before people see signs. Well, we didn’t know that until the last 24 hours . . . This is a game-changer for us,’” Kemp said to reporters.

Scientists from all over the world have been warning of this since January. The CDC, whom Kemp claims to have been receiving information and direction from, had published a paper on February 5 warning about asymptomatic spreading and incubation period of up to 14 days. Last Monday, Robert Redfield (the director of the CDC) said that one-quarter of those with Coronavirus will be asymptomatic.

At the press conference, Kemp announced an executive order for Georgia residents to self quarantine and cited this decision to his recent accumulation of this knowledge. On Thursday, the Governor signed into action this order closing all public schools for the rest of the year and putting the state on lockdown until April 13th (which is when the state of emergency ends. An extension of this must be approved by the state legislature).

As of April 3, there were a total of 5967 known coronavirus cases in the state of Georgia. 1222 of those are hospitalized and 198 have died making the death rate in Georgia 3.32%. You can find twice daily updated statistics on the coronavirus in Georgia at this link.