As coronavirus continued to spread in America, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution published a bombshell expose titled, “EXCLUSIVE: Public given sparse details on deadly outbreak.”
“Giant healthcare systems based in Atlanta refuse to say how many coronavirus patients they’re treating at their dozens of Georgia hospitals. They won’t reveal how many of their front-line workers have gotten sick or even died from the virus,” the newspaper noted. “Nursing homes and assisted living facilities aren’t required to post information about outbreaks, and until Friday the state had not been revealing which homes have the most cases, leaving families and advocates in the dark about the conditions inside homes they’re now barred from visiting.”
“While the governors of New York and Ohio are giving detailed, daily briefings broadcast live, Georgia’s governor has only given periodic updates to the public. And while Louisiana details the race and underlying health conditions of victims, Georgia is in the dark about the extent of the coronavirus and who may be most affected, given a massive shortage of tests and limited information it receives on victims,” the newspaper noted.
The papers reported that the office of Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA) “has sometimes provided conflicting messages and his briefings have been less frequent than some other governors.” The paper interviewed Dr. Harry J. Heiman, a clinical associate professor at the Georgia State University School of Public Health. “There seems to be a black box and a lack of transparency about what’s going on,” Dr. Heiman said. Melanie McNeil, the state’s long-term care ombudsman, also offered a sad prognosis.
“We absolutely are in the dark,” she said. Read the full report.
