Mask Mandate Re-imposed For Georgia's Largest School District

GEORGIA — Gwinnett County, Georgia’s biggest school district, announced Tuesday afternoon that it would re-impose a mask mandate for everyone on district property or buses, vaccinated or not.

“This decision takes into account current conditions, the rise in COVID-19 case rates in Gwinnett County, and the ineligibility of children age 12 and younger for the vaccine,” the district said through a statement on its website.

“The facts and recommendations are clear,” said outgoing Superintendent J. Alvin Wilbanks. “Masks do make a difference and we must do all we can to keep students in school, in person.”

That said, Gwinnett schools will now allow families to change their children’s instruction preference — either in-person or digital — by Monday. Wilbanks said in the statement that the short deadline was necessary to ensure that schools are staffed appropriately for the coming academic year.

Gwinnett’s about-face comes in response to new recommendations Tuesday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that everyone in school mask up, regardless of vaccination status. Gwinnett schools had announced in June that it planned to make masks optional but “recommended” for the 2021-2022 school year.

Gwinnett County joins Atlanta Public Schools, Clayton County schools and DeKalb County schools in requiring face coverings. Masks are still optional in Cobb County, Fulton County and Marietta. Most school districts outside Atlanta are not yet requiring masks.

Read the statement about masks from Gwinnett County Public Schools.

In response to the latest guidance for K-12 schools issued on Tuesday, July 27, 2021, by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), GCPS has updated its back-to-school plans to require masks. Learn more here: https://t.co/meAMcFpBbr. pic.twitter.com/boP3e5omcc
— Gwinnett Co. Schools (@GwinnettSchools) July 27, 2021

Georgia Coronavirus Numbers For July 27, 2021

The Georgia Department of Public Health in Atlanta reported a total of 924,292 confirmed cases of COVID-19 at 2:50 p.m. Tuesday, July 27. According to the health department's website, that includes 1,975 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the last 24 hours. In addition, Georgia reported 1,749 new antigen-positive cases — which are considered to be probable cases of COVID-19 — since Monday

Georgia has reported 18,680 deaths so far from COVID-19, with 10 more confirmed deaths recorded since Monday. Georgia also reported 2,964 probable deaths from COVID-19 since the pandemic began. These probable deaths include fatalities with indirect evidence of COVID-19.

Georgia reported 66,599 hospitalizations and 11,331 admissions so far to intensive-care units.

No information is available from Georgia about how many patients have recovered.

Counties in or near metro Atlanta and other metropolitan areas continue to have the highest number of COVID-19 positives, with Gwinnett County in the lead and Fulton County close behind it. These statistics do not include antigen-positive cases.

1. Gwinnett County: 89,374 cases — 135 new
2. Fulton County: 86,287 cases — 196 new
3. Cobb County: 63,579 cases — 162 new
4. DeKalb County: 60,527 cases — 130 new
5. Hall County: 25,966 cases — 56 new
6. Clayton County: 25,338 — 47 new
7. Cherokee County: 23,225 — 42 new
8. Chatham County: 21,530 — 81 new
9. Richmond County: 20,784 — 34 new
10. Henry County: 20,436 — 35 new

Counties in or near metro Atlanta also continue to have the most deaths from COVID-19. (Counties sometimes have lower numbers over 24 hours when totals are re-tabulated to move a fatality to another county.)

1. Fulton County: 1,376 deaths — 1 new
2. Gwinnett County: 1,135 deaths
3. Cobb County: 1,027 deaths
4. DeKalb County: 997 deaths — 1 new
5. Clayton County: 498 deaths
6. Hall County: 476 deaths — 1 new
7. Chatham County: 443 deaths
8. Richmond County: 441 deaths
9. Muscogee County: 439 deaths — 1 new
10. Bibb County: 422 deaths — 1 removed

All Georgia statistics are available on the state's COVID-19 website.

Globally, more than 195.1 million people have tested positive for COVID-19, and more than 4.1 million people have died from it, Johns Hopkins University reported Tuesday.

In the United States, more than 34.5 million people have been infected and more than 611,000 people have died from COVID-19 as of Tuesday. The U.S. has only about 4 percent of the world's population but more confirmed cases and deaths than any other country.