About The times. (Gainesville, Ga.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 25, 2020)
Tuesday, August 25,2020 | GAINESVILLE, GEORGIA | gainesvilletimes.com NGHS wary of Labor Day virus spike BY MEGAN REED mreed@gainesvilletimes.com The Northeast Georgia Health System has now been treating COVID-19 patients for five months, and “what began as an emergency response has really turned into a long-term strategy,” according to Melissa Tymchuk, chief of staff for the health system. Some recent changes at the health system include allowing visitors for some hospital patients and allowing one person to accompany a patient to a prenatal visit. As the hospital adapts some practices, though, it is preparing for an increase in patients that could come as students go back to school, the Labor Day weekend approaches and the flu season begins. Dr. Supriya Mannepalli, chair of the hospital’s Infec tion Prevention and Con trol committee, said people should still follow precautions such as wearing a mask and practicing social distancing. “It’s interesting how after any major holiday, we’ve seen our numbers spike up, Mannepalli Hall Schools in session Photos by SCOTT ROGERS I The Times A Wauka Mountain Multiple Intelligences Academy student gets her temperature checked Monday, Aug. 24, by Erin Smith as Principal Pamela Doig, right, greets students as they arrive for the first day of school for Hall County Schools. ■ Please see NGHS, 3A Jobless in Ga. may soon get a $300 boost BY JEFF GILL jgill@gainesvilletimes.com Unemployed Georgians who saw their $600 federal weekly supplement end in July may soon get a $300 weekly boost for up to three weeks. The Federal Emergency Management Asso ciation approved Georgia’s grant application for the additional funding on Sunday, Aug. 23, according to a Georgia Department of Labor press release on Monday, Aug. 24. The boost stems from an executive order signed Aug. 8 by President Trump, who approved up to $44 billion from FEMA’S Disas ter Relief Fund to extend the jobless benefit to workers who lost wages due to the COVID-19 pandemic. States would have to contribute an additional $100 per week, but that could be as part of the existing weekly benefit provided by the state, Department of Labor spokeswoman Kersha Cartwright said Monday. “If you are receiving $365 each week in regular (jobless) payments, now you will receive that payment plus the new $300. You will receive $665 for the week,” she gave as an example. The plan was to provide the additional fund ing for three weeks, after which “additional benefits are contingent upon availability of remaining FEMA funds,” according to the labor department. And states will be required to request additional disbursements weekly after the three-week period of benefits are distributed, officials said. Depending on funding, the program could run until Dec. 27. “The Georgia Department of Labor will deliver a system meeting the new FEMA guide lines to process these weekly supplements as quickly as possible,” Labor Commissioner Mark Butler. “We will continue to work with the US Department of Labor, FEMA, and Gov. (Brian) Kemp’s office to provide financial sup port for Georgians during this pandemic. ” Students return on hybrid schedule BY NATHAN BERG nberg@gainesville.com Wauka Mountain Multiple Intelligences Academy students enter the building Monday, Aug. 24, on the first day of school for Hall County Schools. Class is officially in session in Hall County schools. Half of Hall County’s in-person students returned to classrooms Monday morning for the district’s hybrid reopening. Students whose last names start with A through K will be in schools on Mon day and Wednesday of this week, and students with last names starting with L through Z will attend school on Tuesday and Thursday. All students will be back on Friday. That schedule will repeat the second week of school. Students not in the classroom for the first day of school have been directed to math and ELA video lessons posted on the Hall County School District website. For all other students who selected the in- person instruction option, classes began to get underway on Monday, district offi cials said the precautionary protocols implemented have been successful so far. “We’re feeling really good about where we are today,” said district spokesman Stan Lewis. “We’ve got students socially distancing in the lunchroom line in our elementary schools. We’ve got kids fol lowing directional arrows that are direct ing one-way traffic down hallways. We’ve got students that are socially distanced in classrooms, socially distanced in the hall ways. I’m seeing really good things.” Lewis said he didn’t have any official numbers on the number of students wear ing masks in school buildings but based on his time spent in multiple schools, the mask wearing rate has seems “100% across the board.” “I think we’ve done a very good job explaining to folks that that’s going to be the expectation,” he said. “Our students, they will do the right thing, and they’ll work with us on this. I think parents will support us as well.” ■ Please see HALLSCH00LS, 3A Brenau embarks on 1st day of fall semester BY KELSEY P0D0 kpodo@gainesvilletimes.com Gray clouds and mist settled over Bre nau University in Gainesville as small numbers of students quietly hurried to their first classes of the semester Monday morning. Although the start of college looked dif ferent than in years prior because of new COVID-19 protocols, many students said this difference didn’t come as a surprise. “My first day was comfortable just because we know what the world is going through,” Brenau sophomore Dennisse Rodriguez said as she walked past Pierce Auditorium. “No one was like, ‘This is weird.’ It was just like a normal class even though we were all kind of separated.” Anna Feng, who had just left a gender studies class with Rodriguez when she spoke with The Times, said she felt safe attending her first course of the semester because everyone at Brenau is required to wear a mask. When she entered the classroom, she said cleaning wipes were SCOn ROGERS I The Times Brenau University students Dennisse Rodriguez, left, and Anna Feng walk between classes Monday, Aug. 24, during Brenau University’s first day of the Fall semester. offered to students. “As a resident student here, I just feel like the school life is not really fun any more because we can’t be as a big group walking around campus anymore,” she said. “Other than that, I feel like it’s the best time to focus on studying. ” Feng said her only worries revolve around on-campus living. “I have a roommate — that’s some thing I was concerned about,” she said. “It would be better if they separated us with our own rooms.” Despite the dreary weather and pan demic, fraternal twins MaryWynn and Sally Brannon couldn’t help but express enthusiasm for their first day of college. The two freshmen had just finished their English class as they walked to the math and science department building. Sally said their first course gave them a “good taste of what it’s all about.” “We’re both playing tennis, so we’re excited,” Sally said. “It was just a good fit all around.” Like many students at Brenau, Stepha nie Rangel, a sophomore, is taking a com bination of in-person and online classes. ■ Please see BRENAU, 3A This e-edition sponsored by:
