As the coronavirus pandemic continues to grow, the battle over face masks has led to a showdown in Georgia.
Governor Brian Kemp is suing the city of Atlanta for requiring masks. "He is putting politics over people," Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms says.
A dozen Georgia cities are defying the governor. "We believe Governor Kemp is overstepping his authority," Savannah Mayor Van Johnson says. "This is a fight that we're willing to take."
Meanwhile, Texas has joined the call to mandate mask wearing. "If everyone can adopt the practice of wearing a face mask for the next four weeks we will be able to get COVID-19 under control," Texas Governor Greg Abbott says. Health experts agree. Twenty-eight states plus Washington D.C. now require masks.
Major retailers including Walmart, Target, CVS and Starbucks are doing the same.
Still, the Rockefeller Foundation warns without more testing, America faces an “impending disaster” by October 1st. “Right now America has two choices. Just shut everything down or let hundreds of thousands of Americans die,” says foundation president Dr. Rajiv Shah. On Thursday the U.S. hit a new daily record for coronavirus cases for the 11th time in a month.