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With performance venues still closed due to the COVID-19 outbreak, Atlanta arts groups continue to offer online and streaming content.

The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra has unveiled the expansion of its Virtual Stage, which will showcase archival performances, musician videos, on demand concerts, insightful interviews and education programs. Each Thursday evening at 8 p.m. on the Virtual Stage, the ASO hosts an event such as interactive Watch Parties, Premieres and Listening Parties on Facebook and YouTube. Upcoming events include The Morehouse College Glee Club 109th Annual Concert (April 30); ASO Principal Trumpet Stuart Stephenson performs Arutiunian’s Trumpet Concerto at Home (May 7);  and Everything Lasts Forever with composer Michael Kurth, ASO, and mezzo-soprano Kelley O’Connor (May 14).  Visit aso.org/VirtualStage for more information.

Dance lovers should check out Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre’s Ailey All Access, a free online initiative, featuring a series of weekly performance broadcasts, original short films created by the Ailey dancers, Ailey Extension dance and fitness classes and more. Full-length ballets are available every Thursday at 7 p.m. Visit www.alvinailey.org for a full schedule of events.

The Alliance Theatre will host a weeklong Virtual Play Club focusing on the 2017 Pulitzer Prize-winning play Sweat as a catalyst for connectivity, creativity and civic participation. The Alliance was forced to cancel its full production of Sweat, directed by Tinashe Kajese-Bolden, following the COVID-19 crisis, but the story and themes are still incredibly relevant for audiences to experience.  Patrons are encouraged to read the script (available for free on the Alliance’s website through May 1) and then virtually gather with family and friends using the “HOST YOUR OWN PLAY CLUB” guide to explore artistic and civic issues in Sweat. Then, on May 1st – International Labor Day – the Alliance will host a conversation with Tinashe Kajese-Bolden, Director, and Pearl Cleage, award winning Atlanta-based playwright, on Sweat and the role of theater in reflecting and creating in times of crisis, featuring guest appearances and commentary from Atlanta theater artists and community activists. Supplementary content, including articles, interviews, videos, and more, can also be found on the Sweat Virtual Play Club website at www.alliancetheatre.org/sweat.  RSVP is require to get the link to the live conversations.

The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival (AJFF) has announced a new virtual programs, as well as expanded recommendations for at-home movie watching. Among the offerings, the AJFF In Conversation podcast and webinar foster dialogue around Jewish film culture, film artists and industry voices, and related themes. AJFF Playback celebrates the festival’s 20^th anniversary with a bracket-style retrospective that invites audiences to watch and then vote for favorite films from the AJFF vault. Meanwhile, AJFF continues to curate the best in international and independent cinema, offering ongoing viewing recommendations for housebound audiences during the coronavirus pandemic via AJFF.org and social channels. Check out the continuously updated blog here for picks of book to screen, movie musicals, food-focused films, and more.

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The state’s Department of Public Health reports that 129 Georgians have died from COVID-19 in the last 72 hours. The death toll as of 7 p.m. on April 28 stands at 1,036 and confirmed cases at 24,844. The new statistics come as the number of U.S. confirmed cases have surpassed 1 million and 58,947 Americans have died.

CNN reported today that Georgia is projected to see its number of daily COVID-19 deaths nearly double by early August, according to an updated model shared by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The projections for Georgia show the highest uptick in deaths per day will be between May and August.

The Greater Atlanta COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund, a joint effort from Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta and United Way of Greater Atlanta has said a fifth round of grants totaling $1.463 million will be distributed to 13 organizations for emergency response. A grand total of nearly $12 million from the fund has been mobilized to benefit 75 nonprofits to date. Grants made in the earlier rounds are detailed on both the Community Foundation’s website and United Way’s website. Some of the organizations receiving funding include KIPP Metro Atlanta Schools, Partners for HOME, Quality Care for Children, Southerners on New Ground, and Georgia Public Broadcasting.

Tomorrow’s News Today has a listing of metro Atlanta restaurants that reopened on April 27 after Gov. Brian Kemp’s order that dining rooms could reopen to customers. Many of the restaurants that have decided to open are corporate chain operations.

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Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said in an afternoon interview with The Washington Post Live that Georgia is going in the “opposite direction” when it comes to social distancing measures to combat the coronavirus outbreak.

“Our numbers are continuing to rise,” Bottoms said, noting that the latest figures show the state has 24,615 confirmed cases and 1,026 related deaths. “We are lifting our foot off the pedal and we’re not out of the woods.”

Bottoms said over the last three days, Grady Hospital has seen an increase in the number of people coming in and testing positive for coronavirus.

Bottoms said states like New York and Washington had COVID-19 figures trending in the right direction thanks to social distancing measures. “We’re going in the opposite direction,” the mayor said about Georgia.

While Atlanta has the bed capacity for COVID-19 patients, the mayor said it defied logic – and health experts – that those beds would be used by people who got sick because they were bored and wanted to go a bowling alley.

Bottoms was referencing Gov. Brian Kemp’s decision to begin reopening businesses like bowling alleys, hair salons, barbershops, massage parlors, tattoo parlors, restaurant dining rooms, and movie theaters. Bottoms said she and other Georgia mayors were not consulted by Kemp and his order to reopen businesses cannot be countermanded at the local level.

“My options and powers are limited against Gov. Kemp’s move, but I do have the authority to use my voice and encourage people to stay home,” Bottoms said as the governor’s shelter-in-place order is set to expire on April 30.

Bottoms said she understood “people who are dealing with whether or not to go back to work to put food on their table, but I don’t understand people going to a movie theater or bowling alley because they’re bored.”

“Some people are just tired of being in the house and they want to go back to life as normal – getting their nails done and a haircut,” she said. “People are making tough economic decision to stay at home and preserve their health. It’s a very difficult dynamic people are having to choose.”

Asked about the racial disparity in access to testing in Atlanta, Bottoms said there were now testing facilities in predominantly African-American communities, but the issue is the racial disparity that is impacting the state as a whole. She cited a story in the Washington Post that said African Americans accounted for more than 50 percent of Georgia’s deaths, despite making up about 30 percent of the state’s 10.6 million people.

“This virus is discriminating against people of color, because African-American communities have a higher rate of infection with underlying conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure,” Bottoms said.

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Atlanta’s local roads now have a default speed limit of 25 miles per hour  after the City Council formally adopted the Vision Zero plan on April 20, which focuses on eliminating traffic deaths and reducing crashes and serious injuries.

The default speed limit applies to any city road without another speed limit expressly posted.

According to data from the city, speed contributed to 52 percent of the 73 traffic fatalities recorded in 2019. Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said the new city ordinance lowering the speed limit will improve safety of all travelers, including children, the elderly, minorities and low-income persons, pedestrians, cyclists, and those using scooters and other mobility devices.

Bottoms said Vision Zero is a key pillar of her One Atlanta Strategic Transportation Plan, which was released in November 2019 during the establishment of the Atlanta Department of Transportation (ATLDOT).

In the six months since the formation of the ATLDOT, the city has been tackling safety issues and moving on key transportation projects, including the Action Plan for Safer Streets, which focuses on implementing a complete network of connected and protected bike lanes through quick-build projects.

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As states begin to loosen coronavirus business closure orders, Simon Property Group announced it will reopen 49 of its malls and outlet centers around the U.S. beginning  Friday, May 1, including Lenox Square and Phipps Plaza in Buckhead.

According to a report by CNBC, business hours at the malls will be limited to 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. Sunday. This will give crews a chance to clean the malls overnight, and Simon said there would be regular sanitizing of high-touch areas like food court tables, escalators, door knobs and electronic directories. Simon is encouraging its retailers to do the same in their stores.

Simon is leaving it up to individual retailers if they want to reopen. Stores like Macy’s, Victoria’s Secret and American Eagle have furloughed staff, so it may take time for them to bring employees back and resume operations.

The malls will limit the number of entrances at each property and use traffic measuring technology to make sure occupancy does not exceed one person per 50 square feet of space.

Stores will have free temperature testing for customers using infrared thermometers. Masks and hand-sanitizing packets will also be available free of charge. Employees are being required to wear masks and take breaks for frequent handwashing.

The malls will also be enforcing social distancing rules including limiting food court seating, closing drinking fountains, and directing traffic flow. Stores are also being encouraged to make contactless transactions like Apple Pay.

Per the memo, Simon is also encouraging retailers and other tenants to use technology, such as Apple Pay, that allows for contactless transactions.

Simon said it would also open its other Georgia properties on Friday, including Town Center at Cobb, Mall of Georgia and Sugarloaf Mills.

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Georgia residents can begin Airbnb’ing their properties again on May 1 after Gov. Brian Kemp said a statewide ban on short-term home rentals will be allowed to expire on April 30.

Kemp had instituted the suspension of short-term rentals beginning April 9 to combat the coronavirus outbreak. It applies to home rentals of 30 days or less, with exceptions for hotels, motels, campgrounds, commercial leasing and rentals intended as the lessee’s primary place of residence.

Kemp said the suspension will be allowed to expire as scheduled at 11:59 p.m. on April 30 without a renewal. He wrote that the decision is “based on favorable data and stakeholder input.”

A statewide shelter-in-place order is also scheduled to expire on April 30 unless Kemp extends it. His pandemic emergency powers currently run through May 30.

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