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Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s move Monday to lift restrictions on a wide range of businesses, one of the most aggressive moves yet to reignite commercial activity in the midst the coronavirus pandemic, put his state at the center of a deepening national battle over whether Americans are ready to risk exacerbating the public health crisis to revive the shattered economy. (Stanley-Becker, 4/21)

Georgia’s timetable, one of the most aggressive in the nation, would allow gyms, hair salons, bowling alleys and tattoo parlors to reopen as long as owners follow strict social-distancing and hygiene requirements. Elective medical procedures would also resume. By Monday, movie theaters may resume selling tickets, and restaurants limited to takeout orders could return to limited dine-in service. (Amy, 4/21)

Kemp said "favorable data, enhanced testing and approval of our health care professionals" motivated him to reopen some businesses in the next week. Georgia is on track to meet Phase 1 criteria as recommended by the White House's coronavirus task force, according to the governor. Kemp cited Department of Public Health reports that emergency room visits of people with flu-like symptoms are declining and that documented COVID-19 cases have flattened. But according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in Georgia and number of deaths attributed to the virus there, have been steadily increasing in the last month. (Hagemann and Booker, 4/20)

Last week, more than 5,700 new coronavirus cases were reported in Georgia, a rate that was down about 6 percent from the week before, but still higher than the week that ended April 5, when fewer than 3,800 new cases were reported. The numbers are based on data collected by CNN and Johns Hopkins University. (Maxouris, 4/21)

“I don’t give a damn about politics now,” Kemp said. The governor said he was concerned about residents “going broke worried about whether they can feed their children and make the mortgage payment.” (Kaleem, 4/20)

“It’s a very big risk,” said Dr. Marc Lipsitch, a professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “If you open up enough, it’s almost for certain” the virus will hit Georgia again. It’s just waiting for more susceptible people and more contacts. That’s how viruses work.” (Judd and Bluestein, 4/20)

With that announcement, Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia on Monday joined officials in other states who are moving ahead with plans to relax restrictions intended to curb the spread of the coronavirus, despite signs that the outbreak is just beginning to strike some parts of the country. In Tennessee, Gov. Bill Lee said on Monday that he was not extending his “safer-at-home” order that is set to expire on April 30. According to his office, “the vast majority of businesses in 89 counties” will be allowed to reopen on May 1. Businesses in Ohio are expected to reopen on that date as well. (Rojas and Cooper, 4/20)

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, meanwhile, issued an order lifting restrictions on some retailers and other businesses. He also eased limits on access to public beaches, leaving the issue up to mayors and local leaders. Public-health experts say any return to something resembling normal life will require fast and widespread testing, but state health officials and laboratory operators are navigating supply shortages, test backlogs and unreliable results. Adm. Brett Giroir, the Trump administration’s testing coordinator, has said the federal government is fully engaged in fixing testing. (Calfas, Calvert and Dvorak, 4/20)

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday acknowledged that pressure from Californians and local governments is building to modify the statewide stay-at-home order carried out to stem to spread of the coronavirus, but he said restrictions will remain in place until the threat to public health subsides and adequate testing and other safeguards are implemented. (Willon, 4/20)

The World Health Organization said Tuesday that rushing to ease coronavirus restrictions will likely lead to a resurgence of the illness, a warning that comes as governments start rolling out plans to get their economies up and running again. “This is not the time to be lax. Instead, we need to ready ourselves for a new way of living for the foreseeable future,” said Dr. Takeshi Kasai, the WHO regional director for the Western Pacific. (Blake and Long, 4/21)

Governors are heading for a clash with their own citizens and local officials as they weigh how and when to reopen the country's economy amid the coronavirus pandemic. President Trump's own guidelines for easing social distancing restrictions, unveiled on Thursday, leave the final decisions for those matters with state governors. And those governors are facing growing pressure from the public in states such as Ohio and Michigan, where protests have called on leaders to quickly lift stay-at-home orders and bans on large gatherings and to allow nonessential businesses to open their doors. (Kruzel, 4/20)

New Jersey will need to at least double its testing capacity before state officials can consider reopening major components of the economy, Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday during his daily coronavirus press briefing. The state’s 70-plus testing sites are completing between 7,000 and 9,000 swabs per day, most of which then must be processed at commercial labs that require as long as a week to deliver results, Murphy said. (Sutton, 4/20)

When California emerges from its coronavirus lockdown, the state's often overlooked rural counties could be the first to open up rather than the nationally trendsetting San Francisco Bay Area. Rural counties house roughly one-tenth of California's nearly 40 million residents but comprise more than half its land mass. A greater share of inland residents have continued to work in essential sectors under social isolation orders, and many think their thinly populated communities are less vulnerable to Covid-19 spread and shouldn't be held back by coastal cities. (Mays, 4/20)

Governors are beginning to announce timelines for relaxing strict measures taken to mitigate the coronavirus. Many states are dropping stay-at-home orders beginning May 1, while several states have not yet announced an end to restrictions. At the federal level, President Trump last week issued guidelines “that will allow governors to take a phased and deliberate approach to reopening their individual states.” (Cohn, 4/20)

Masks and face coverings are recommended, but not required, for Americans who go out in public during the coronavirus pandemic. Seven states took that guidance further, and they're requiring residents to cover their faces when they visit essential businesses or use public transportation. (Andrew and Froio, 4/20)