Presumably, penning people into perpetual proximity has proved perilous to the public peace, putting a peevish peal in the peroration of pulchritudinous police pontiff Christy Smith. "Our DUIs have increased, our domestics have increased," she reported at today's county COVID-19 briefing.
The law enforcement side of what happens when businesses and institutions shut down and people are ordered to stay home in the bosom of their families became evident at today's 3 p.m. livestreamed county briefing on the COVID-19 situation.
Trenton Police Chief Christ Smith said most people are obeying Gov. Brian Kemp's shelter-in-place order but there are always a few who march--or stagger, anyway, she implied--to the beat of a different drummer. "We met some of those people this weekend," she said.
Thus far, Dade's law enforcement officials have used these daily local briefings to offer their help to elderly or others made vulnerable by the ongoing coronavirus crisis, and there was still plenty of that in today's session. But a distinct edge had crept into Chief's Smith voice as she reported behavior by some in the current situation. "Our DUIs have increased, our domestics have increased," she said.
Not to mention littering. Wearing masks and gloves is a great way to protect yourself from the virus when you're out shopping, but, when you leave the store: "Be kind enough to put them in the receptacle outside," said Chief Smith.
The chief said this crisis is not a free pass to spin out of control. "If you're going to drink, keep yourself at home," she said. "If you cannot handle your drink, don't drink." Otherwise, expect to be arrested because even though the cops are working in face masks and latex gloves: "We are not working from home. we're working here, out here, every day," she said. "If you break the law, you are going to jail...if you're out there acting stupid, then you're putting my men at risk and you're putting our citizens at risk."
Dade County Sheriff Ray Cross also spoke at today's briefing, and he explained that local law officers had been empowered to make arrests for violations of the governor's shelter-at-home edict. He elaborated that this weekend's Dade arrests with that charge--four of them, he said--had involved other charges. "We're not here to punish people," he said. "This is to keep you safe. We want to save lives."
(The Planet has requested arrest reports. The sheriff's office remains crippled in its ability to run such reports, says the staff, but The Planet will duly pass on any information it is able ultimately to obtain.)
Sheriff Cross also reported on the situation at Cloudland Canyon. The preceding weekend had seen record numbers of out-of-area tourists flocking into the state park, overwhelming park personnel and worrying Dade citizens and officials that they brought with them the highly contagious coronavirus. This weekend park attendance was much more moderate, he said, with most of the license plates showing visitors as local residents, and there had been no incidents requiring crowd control by the newly on-site game and fish law enforcement officers assigned to the park by the governor.
County Executive Ted Rumley, who had also visited the park over the weekend, said much the same. The park had averaged only about 75 to 80 cars going in and out per day, he said. "People are listening and abiding by the governor's orders," said the county boss.
But that's not to say Dade has rescinded its request that the governor close the park through the end of April. The governor hasn't answered yet, said Rumley, but the commission was hoping for a reply today or Tuesday. In fact, he said, mountainous counties across the northern part of the state had formed a league to implore the governor to close the state parks in their own areas.
"They've had the same issues that we've had at our park," he said. Besides the fear that tourists are spreading the illness, said Rumley, "Their grocery stores that they depend on every day were totally cleaned out."
The Boss inserted an aside into his regular report to add that the county transfer station will be open on Friday, though it's Good Friday and other county offices are closed. During "the Situation," apparently, many residents have been staying at home giving the place a good spring-cleaning, and thus creating more garbage to be hauled off.
Rumley read off the daily COVID-19 numbers, noting they were more optimistic the last couple of days. "We're not going down but our counties are staying the same in the whole region," he said. Dade still has just the one case, the lady who died on Friday. Walker remains at six cases and Catoosa at three--Whitfield went up one but it's a big county, he said, and Floyd went from 80 to 84 but that's still less of an increase than in pre-lockdown days. "Evidently people are listening and it's working," he said.
The Centers for Disease Control has now recommended that people wear face masks when out in public, and Tammy Franklin of Dade Public Health, demonstrating with a mask made by Verenice Hawkins--a former Dade public health nurse herself--went over some do's and don'ts
Nurse Franklin stressed the importance of wearing the masks not just to protect yourself but to protect others from yourself--you can have the virus and be asymptomatic so that you don't know you're contagious. She recommended homemade masks--the official surgical kinds are in short supply so please leave those for doctors and nurses, she said. She said there were numerous sources online for making the masks yourself, sometimes out of a T-shirt or old sock.
Masks need to be made out of a couple of layers of fabric and: "You need to cover both your nose and your mouth or it's doing you no good," said Ms. Franklin. She said not to put a mask on a kid under 2. "Do not put it on any person who cannot take it off themselves," she warned.
And finally, she noted that COVID-19 is turning out to be not just a menace to physical health but to mental sanity as well. "It's hard to be by yourself all the time," she said. "If you're stressed, please call for help." Georgia has now established a COVID-19 emotional help crisis line. that number is (866) 399-8938.
Kathy Johnson of DFACS (Department of Family and Children Services) made a brief appearance to tell potential clients that applications for Medicaid, food stamps and other social services are available outside DFACS's Administrative Building office, and there is also a drop box there for the completed apps.
Tracy Street of the Dade County Board of Elections came on to say--so far--the May 19 primary is still scheduled to happen. But with the March 24 presidential preference primary having been postponed due to "the Situation" smack in the middle of early voting, "It's very complicated right now," said Street. If you already voted in the PPP, your vote will be counted, he said; if not, you will be offered the chance to vote in that in the May 19 election.
If it happens. Street said the Georgia secretary of state had noted he is only responsible for conducting elections while the Georgia General Assembly was in charge of changing it, if it is to change.
Street went on to talk about the current application for absentee ballots being sent out now to all Georgia voters. Some people may be receiving apps for people who are deceased or don't live there. If so, please alert his office, said street. The election board number is (706) 657-8170.
These briefings are livestreamed every day at 3 p.m. from the Dade County Ga. Facebook page. "Like" the page and you will be notified when it goes live. If you miss it, you can still see the video on the county page, or The Dade Planet also shares it on its own FB page.
