Georgia Mayor Says 'Kemp Does Not Give A Damn About Us,' After Governor Voids Mask Mandates

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp's cancellation of local mask mandates that would allow residents to choose whether they wear a face-covering shows his lack of concern for the state, Savannah, Georgia, Mayor Van Johnson said.

The Wednesday executive order, called the "Empowering a Healthy Georgia Act," strongly encourages Georgians to wear masks in public, but voids any local mandate requiring a person to do so. The executive order came as Georgia is seeing an uptick in new cases of COVID-19 and sparked criticism from state and local officials.

Johnson, who was the first local official to issue a mask mandate, posted on Twitter that it's "officially official" that "Governor Kemp does not give a damn about us." He added that it's "every man and woman for himself [or] herself."

"Ignore the science and survive the best you can," Johnson wrote on Twitter. "In Savannah, we will continue to keep the faith and follow the science. Masks will continue to be available!"

Newsweek reached out to Kemp for comment, but did not receive a response in time for publication.

Georgia's had 127,838 confirmed cases, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker, the eighth-largest state outbreak in the country. Of those cases, more than 3,000 people have died and the state's positivity rate of 10.1 percent landed Georgia on New York's list of travel-restricted states.

Georgia's western neighbor, Alabama, also made it onto New York's list. At 10.7 percent, Alabama has a similar positivity rate as Georgia and on Wednesday. However, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey went the opposite direction compared to Kemp and issued a statewide mandate requiring face coverings in public when social distancing can't be observed. This includes indoor spaces, transportation services, and outdoor spaces where 10 or more people are gathered.

Ivey cited the 50 percent increase in new coronavirus cases in explaining her reasoning for issuing the orde. The governor said she knows "with all my heart" that the data "over the past few weeks are definitely trending in the wrong direction." While the mandate makes masks a requirement, Ivey urged people to practice personal responsibility because the mandate is difficult to enforce.

Kemp also took issue with mask mandates being "unenforceable" and has urged Georgians to wear a mask on a voluntary basis.

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who issued a mandate last week after seeing Kemp not take exception to Savannah's, told WGCL that police officers shouldn't have to enforce the mandate. Instead, people should take responsibility for themselves and those around them, but the mandate gives them the ability to enforce the measure.

Kemp's executive orders have long prohibited local measures from being more restrictive than the statewide orders, and the same is true of the cancellation of the local mask mandates.