According to a document compiled for the White House Coronavirus Task Force, but withheld from the public, Georgia is one of 18 states in the "red zone" for high caseload growth, and one of 12 in the "red zone" for high positive test results. 1/8 http://bit.ly/3jdwV1K 

"Disease trends are moving in the wrong direction in Georgia with record numbers of new cases in urban, suburban and rural areas," the report warns. GA had 202 new cases for 100,000 population last week, compared to the nationwide average of 119 per 100K population. 2/8

The hardest hit counties are Gwinnett, DeKalb & Fulton, which together account for 25.9% of new cases statewide. (Some local officials have tried to respond to that crisis by imposing mask orders and other public-health measures, but Gov. Kemp is fighting hard to stop them.) 3/8

Among the report's suggestions for GA:

- "Allow local jurisdictions to implement more restrictive policies"
- "Mandate statewide wearing of cloth face coverings outside the home"
- In counties with high positive rates, "close bars, restrict social distancing in restaurants" 4/8

According to the leaked report, deaths in GA were up 65% over the previous week, positive tests were up 20.6%, total tests reported were DOWN 3.3%. So these numbers are not the result of more testing. It also lists specific communities at heightened risk. 5/8

Those communities at heightened risk include Atlanta, Augusta, Savannah and Athens-Clarke County, all jurisdictions that have attempted to implement steps advised in the White House report but have been blocked by doing so by Gov. Kemp. 6/8

In Kemp's defense, he probably has not had the benefit of seeing these recommendations, which again were delivered to the White House Task Force but not made available to those who could actually make use of them. Yet somehow I don't think it would matter to Kemp. 7/8

By not releasing this report & similar documents, the Trump WH actively deceives the American people about how best to protect themselves and about the actions that they should be demanding of their public officials. That is not by accident. It is, apparently, the plan. 8/8