Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp continues to catch flack for his decision to lift restrictions for businesses on April 24. Kemp announced that the state would begin to relax social distancing and stay-at-home regulations for gyms, barbers, nail salons, bowling alleys, massage parlors, tattoo shops, and hair salons. On April 27, movie theaters and private social clubs will be able to reopen.
However, some believe that Kemp is ignoring the data. At press time, Georgia has 20,166 cases of COVID-19 and 818 deaths, according to the CDC. The state lacks overall testing and is currently 44th in the country in terms of the available tests.
Killer Mike owns the Swag Shop barbershop franchise with his wife Shay Bigga. The Run the Jewels rapper revealed that he would not open his barbershops during the pandemic.
“Our first concern is the safety of our employees and the safety of our customers,” Killer Mike said on TMZ. “We have an incentive to open, we could use that incentive, and we definitely wanna make money. [But] at this time, as a business, we aren’t comfortable opening. We’re gonna wait a while before we reopen.”
Killer Mike also took aim at Kemp’s choice to make the decision without discussing options with mayors and city leaders across the state of Georgia.
“As a citizen in the community where people look like me, I’m choosing to stay closed because I don’t want to endanger [anybody]. And a lot of times, politicians have different views of things. I think governors and mayors should all get on the phone together because as your constituents, we need you to do that.”
Atlanta’s Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms advised all citizens of Atlanta to stay home regardless of Kemp’s decision to relax social distancing guidelines.
